Ai 


■.'h^ 


%. 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


y 


i^o 


{/ 


4- 


f-'^TS? 


•t:'>\? 


t'?^ 


/- 


i/.x 


^ij.y 


1.0 


I.I 


1.25 


■-hm 

|50     ""'== 

It  1^ 


2,5 


--     6" 


12.0 

1.8 


U    IIIIII.6 


V] 


<^ 


/a 


m 


w 


Photographic 

Sciences 
Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)  872-4503 


.^^ 
^ 


iV 


\\ 


^9) 


V 


^1> 


6^ 


% 


u- 


'% 


b" 


^1? 


*.^..\ 


i/.x 


vV 


CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHM/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notss/Notes  techniques  et  bibliographiques 


The  Institute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best 
original  copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this 
copy  which  mey  be  bibliographically  unique, 
which  may  alter  any  of  the  images  in  the 
reproduction,  or  which  may  significantly  change 
the  usual  method  of  filming,  are  checked  below. 


L'Institut  a  microfilme  le  meiileur  exemplaire 
qui!  lui  a  ete  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  details 
de  cet  exemplaire  qui  sont  peut-dtre  uniques  du 
point  de  vue  bibliographique.  qui  peuvent  modifier 
une  image  reproduite,  ou  qui  peuvent  eniger  une 
modification  dans  la  m^thcde  normale  de  filmage 
sont  indiqu^s  ci-dessous. 


D 


D 


D 
D 

n 


D 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couverture  de  couleur 


I      I    Covers  damaged/ 


D 


Couverture  endommag^e 


Cove's  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaur^e  et/ou  pelliculde 


□    Cover  title  missing/ 
Le  tit 


itre  de  couverture  manque 


Coloured  maps/ 

Cartes  giographiques  an  couleur 


Coloured  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)/ 
Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleuo  ou  noi 

Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations/ 
Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couleur 


Bound  with  other  material/ 
Reiii  avec  d'autras  documents 

Tight  binding  may  causa  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  margin/ 

Lareliure  serree  peut  causer  de  I'ombre  ou  de  la 
distorsion  le  long  de  la  marge  interieure 

Blank  leaves  added  during  restoration  may 
appear  within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these 
have  been  omitted  from  filming/ 
II  se  peut  que  certaines  pages  blanches  ajoutdes 
lors  d'une  restauration  apparaissent  dans  le  texte, 
mais,  lorsque  cela  dtait  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 
pas  iti  filmies. 


Additional  comments;/ 
Commentaires  supplementaires; 


D 

D 


Coloured  pages/ 
Pages  de  couleur 


D 
D 

D 
0 
D 

0Showthrough/ 
Tra.isparence 


Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommag^es 

Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Pages  restaurees  et/ou  pelliculees 

Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 
Pages  ddcolorees,  tachet^es  ou  piquees 

Pages  detached/ 
Pages  detachees 


0    Quality  of  print  varies/ 
Qualite  ini 


nigale  de  I'impression 

supplementary  materii 
Comprend  du  materiel  supplementaire 


I      I    Includes  supplementary  material/ 


Only  edition  avaibble/ 
Seule  Edition  di&ponible 

Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata 
slips,  tissues,  etc..  have  been  refilmed  to 
ensure  the  best  possible  image/ 
Les  pages  totalernent  ou  partiellement 
obscurcies  par  un  feuillet  d'errata,  une  pelure, 
etc..  cnt  6te  fiim^es  d  nouveau  de  facon  a 
obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 


This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 

Ce  document  est  filmd  au  taux  de  reduction  indiqud  ci-dessous. 


10X 

14X 

18X 

22X 

26X 

SOX 

/ 

■  ^^■■H 

i 

12X 


16X 


20X 


24X 


28X 


32X 


Thd  copy  fiimad  hers  has  b««n  reproducad  thanks 
to  tha  ganarosiry  of: 

Library, 

Geological  Survey  of  Canada 


L'axainplaira  filmA  fut  raproduit  grica  i  la 
g^n^roaiti  da: 

Bibliothdque, 

Commission  Gfologique  du  Canada 


Tha  imagaa  appaaring  hara  ara  tha  baat  quality 
possibia  conaidaring  tha  condition  and  lagibility 
of  tha  original  copy  and  in  kaaping  with  tha 
filming  contract  spacifications. 


Laa  imagaa  suivantaa  ont  iti  raproduitaa  avac  la 
piua  grand  aoin.  compta  tanu  da  la  condition  at 
da  la  nattat*  da  I'axamplaira  film*,  at  an 
conformity  avac  laa  conditions  du  contrat  da 
fiimaga. 


Original  copiaa  in  printad  papar  covars  ara  fllmad 
bagtnning  with  tha  front  covar  and  anding  on 
tha  last  paga  with  a  printad  or  iliustratad  impraa- 
sion,  or  tha  back  covar  whan  appropriate.  All 
othar  original  copiaa  ara  fiimad  baginning  on  tha 
first  paga  with  a  printad  or  illuatratad  imprar.- 
sion,  and  anding  on  tha  laat  pagn  with  a  printad 
or  illusrratad  imprasaion. 


Las  axamplairaa  originaux  dont  la  couvartura  an 
papiar  ast  imprimia  ^ont  fiimte  an  commancant 
par  la  pramiar  plat  at  an  tarminant  soit  par  la 
darniAra  paga  qui  comporta  una  amprainta 
d'impraasion  ou  d'iliustration,  soit  par  la  sacond 
plat,  salon  la  caa.  Tous  laa  autras  axamplairaa 
originaux  sont  filmte  an  commandant  par  la 
pramiAra  paga  qui  comporta  una  amprainta 
d'imprasaion  ou  d'llluatration  at  an  tarminant  par 
la  darniira  paga  qui  comporta  una  talla 
amprainta. 


Tha  laat  racordad  frama  on  aach  microflcha 
shall  contain  tha  symbol  ^^  (moaning  "CON- 
TINUEO").  or  tha  symbol  V  (maaning  "END"), 
whichavar  appliaa. 


Un  daa  symbolaa  suivants  apparaitra  sur  la 
damiira  imaga  da  chaqua  microflcha,  salon  I 
caa:  la  symbola  — »>  signifia  "A  SUIVRE",  la 
symbola  ▼  signifia  "FIN". 


Mapa.  plataa,  charts,  ate,  may  ba  filmed  at 
diff arant  reduction  ratioa.  Thoae  too  largo  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  framea  aa 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Lea  cartaa.  planchea.  tableeux,  ate,  psuvent  dtre 
fiimte  i  dee  taux  de  rMuction  diff  brents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  itr» 
reproduit  en  un  seul  cliche,  il  eat  filmii  d  partir 
de  Tangle  supArieur  gauche,  de  gauche  h  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  baa.  an  prenant  le  nombre 
d'imagea  nteassaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
iiiustrent  la  m^thode. 


1  2  3 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

I 


i 


£^£11*0  tutnxtB  on  (S^tologs 


EIGHT 


LECTURES    ON    GEOLOGY, 


\ 


mielioereb 


AT  THE  BROADWAY  TABERNACLE  IN  THE  CITY  OF  NEW-YORK. 


BY  CHARLES  LYELL,  F  V.  S. 

VICE  PRESIDENT  OP  THE  GEOLOGICAL  SOCIETY  OP  LONDON,  BTO. 


a 

>f 

1- 

;t 

IT 

h 
i 

a 
o 
a 
> 
! 

r 
r 
V 
I 


\\ 


FRBSH  WATER  FORMATIONS  OF  AUVERGNE  ;   EXTINCT  VOLCANOES  OF  tUCCESSIVE  PERIODS. 
STRUCTURE  OF  «TNA;  ORIGIN  OF  GRANITIC  ROCKS;  CHANGES  IN  THE  ORGANIC  WORLD. 

WPHBAVAL  AND  SUBSIDENCE  OF  THE  EARTH'S  CRUST  J   SUBMERGENCK  AND  RE-ELEVATION  OF  THE  TEMPLE  OF  SERAPH. 
ORIGIN  OF  CORAL  REEFS,  AND  THEORY  OF  THEIR  CIRCULAR  FORM  ;  CORALINE  LIMESTONE  OF  VARIOUS  GEOLOGICAL  *CJM. 
NATURE  AND  ORIGIN  OF  COAL;  PERIOD  OF  ITS  FORMATION. 
POOT-M\RKS  OF  FOSSIL  ANIMALS;   THE  NIAGARA  DISTRICT. 
CHIROTHERIUM  ORGANIC  REMAINS  OF  THE  MOST  ANCIENT  ROCKS. 
RECESSION  OF  THE  FALLS  OF  NIAGARA. 
BOULDER  FORMATION;   TRANSPORTING  POWER  OF  ICE;   ACTION  OF  GLACIER3  AND  ICEBERG*. 


BRPORTED    FOK    "THE    NEW-YORK    TRIBUNK.' 


NEW-YORK: 
GRSELEY    &    McELRATH,    TRIBUNE    OFFICE 

1842. 


advertisement: 


principal  Cife  of  ,he  Union     Th' !  .  ''*'' "'"'  ™'P=«»I'I°  »'"««»eo8  in  .he 

c«nvUn;::i  itr^^^^^^^^^^^ 

livmd  at  11,0  Tabcrnacio,  l,y  Mr.  H    I    RAVMnivl     ''  *  *"'>"'"'.»' -le  ■ 

"Lose  nopom  of  Dr.  ..AI  dL.  .  "  „ J        '  -       r'    ,"'■'"""      "'"  "'  "•"'  '•"•"^■ 
eeivod  „i,h  .cede.  n„„  n.cH.cU  1'  1  a,™     r     "  ^7"™  """  "'™'»-  >-»  -- 

Nnc-Vori:,  April  Vi,   [^iy_: 


m 


.'   !    *  *  •    • 


>  1 


•       •••••• 


i 


;8  in  the 
ive  been 
in  hoth 
States 
)w  ledge 
no  ]ce» 
,  as  tie 
paper r 
cen  re- 
ed autJ' 
rthy  oP 


1 


LECTURES  ON    GEOLOGY. 


LECTURE    I . 


Mr.  Lyxll  opened  his  Lecture  by  saying  thai  ho 
had  been  invited  to  give  a  sliort  course  of  lectures 

upon  one  of  the  most  extensive  branches  of  Na- 
tural Science ;  and  as  lio  was   to  have  but  a  few 
meetings,  ]w  should  lose  no  time  in  prefatory  re- 
marks, but  would  proceed  at  once  to  the  subject 
and   endeavor  as  well  as  he  could  to  enable  his 
class  to  comprehend  the  objects  of  Geology,  the 
means  of  proof  employed,  and  in  what  manner  wo 
attempt  to   interpret  those  monuments  we  term 
geological.     If  any  one  should  aak  him  in  what 
way  ho  could  soonest  arrive  at  an   understanding 
of  the  subject  so  far  as  eight  meetings  would  al- 
low, he  .should   take  him  at  once  into  the  field  of 
•bservation.     I  should  go,  said  he,  up  this  magni- 
ficent river — the  Hudson — and   point  you  first  to 
the  Palisades,  which  you  can  sec  from  this  City; 
I  would  show  you  the  natural  rock,  called  Basalt, 
with   its    columnar  structure,    and   explain    the 
reasons  why  we  conclude  that  these   rocks  thus 
piled  up  have  existed  iu  a  melted  state  in  the  in- 
terior of  the  Earth.     I  would  show  you  the  other 
rocks — as   the  Sandstone,  which  was    once  sand 
until   it  was   consolidated — deposited,    one   above 
another,  under  the  water   until  a  flood  of  melted 
matter  flowed  over  and  made  it  solid.     Going  still 
farther  up,  I  would  show  you  the  gneiss  and  gran- 
ite of  the   Highlands ;  or  I  might  come  back  t« 
this  very  island  on  which  New-York  is  situated. 

But  as  it  is  impossible  thus  to  carry  you  into 
the  field,  the  next  best  thing  I  can  do  is  to  show 
you  some  representation  of  natural  scene,  and 
explain  their  several  parts.  The  scene  to  which 
I  first  call  your  attention  is  one  of  the  most  re- 
markable known  in  Europe— far  more  striking 
than  any  I  have  seen  in  the  British  Isles.  The 
series  of  geological  phenomena,  here  exhibited, 
all  belong  to  the  same  great  class  of  rocks,  bat  it 
is  easy  for  the  merest  novice  to  see  that  they  be- 
long to  different  periods  :  their  origin  is  to  be  re- 
ferred to  distinct  epochs  and  to  dissimilar  causes.  I 


Thi,.»  is  a  scone  of  Auvergw.     Having  visited  all 
the  portions  of  it  I  can  vouch   for  the  accuracy  ol 
the  geological  representation  which  is   enlarged 
from  a  drawing  by  my  friend  Mr.    Scropk.     To 
understand  the  geographical  position  of  the  region 
it  will   be  necessary  to   rofir  you    to  a  map  of 
France.     What   is    called    th..-    Paris    Basin   is  a 
strata  of  comparatively  modern   origin :    nearly 
two  hundred  miles  South  of  Pari.s  are  situated  the 
Extinct  Volcanoes,   of  which  the  principal  mass 
is  Mount  Dor,  which  is  in  the  centre  of  the  granite 
region— its  rocks   being  of  marine  origin.     And 
>iere  let  iu<i  say  that  by  rocks  we  mean  technically 
m  Geology  any  set  of  mineral   masses  whether 
hard  or  soft — whether  loose  like  sand  or  consoli- 
dated like  granite— soft  clay  as  well  as  iiard  shale. 
These  rocks  contain  a  variety  of  shells  and  coral.s. 
called  marine  as  having  been  formed  originally  be- 
neath the  sea.     This  is  the  zone  ©f  the  granite  re- 
gion in  Fiance.     Mount  Dor,  which  is  near  Cler- 
mont, is  more  than  150  mil.'s  South  of  Paris. 

The    next   scene  I  srmll  show  you  i^  a  vertical 
section  of  this  region— just  as  if  you  should  dig  n 
railway— the  rocks  being  represented  to  a  ccrtair- 
depth,  as   far  as  hilf  a  mile,  as  though  they  were 
cut  down  vertically,  just  as  ysu  may  see  in  a  lint- 
of  sea  cliff.     The  upper  portion  is  of  basalt— simi- 
lar to  the  Palisaxles— and  the   lower  is  of  a  differ 
«nt  kind  of  volcanic  rock— a  Feldspar  rock  called 
Trachyte.     As  it  would  be  impossible  for  you  to 
follow  me  were  I  to  attempt  it,  I  shall  not  enter 
upon  any  detailed  explanation  of  these  terms.     It 
may  be  well  to  say  that  more  rocks  are  found  in 
this  mountain  than  could  be  represented  in  a  draw- 
ing.    There   is  a  great  prevalence  of  Feldspathic 
rocks  and  of  heavier  basaltic  rocks  containing  i 
dark  mineral  called  augitc.     You  see  the  granite 
represented  below  the  volcanic  rocks  as  we  have 
abundant  evidence  for  thus  representing  it  in  that 
section.     You   see  the  granite  peeping  out  from 


B 


th?   Trachyte;  we   find    dyk^s  of  other  kinds 


or 


id 

'• 

(« 

ir 

I* 
■m 
n 
)f 
»- 
;C 
r 
h 
1 

9 

b 

3 
> 
I 

r 

ir 

M 
\ 


lava  passing  thro-  ^li  th"  granito  und  then  joinin-; 
into  iphr.-trt  of  lavft,  uj  wo  may  call  thoin,  wliicli 
wu  know  onco  (lowed  in  u  nielti'd  stream. 

We   huvo  till*  grunitc  tlion  m  tlin  lundunicntal 
rock:  th.-n  coinc;   tin,   ditrcivnl  kinds  of  voh-unic 
rocks:  tla>n  nt  ii    •jrvatcr  distance   tlio    BtrLiifiud 
rock^,  which  wo  Ivuow  ure  of  frc«h  water  nrigin— 
formed  nt  tho   bottom  of  lake.s   which  luiv<«  now 
di.sai)j.eared  ju>t  iis  tho  fires  of  the  volcanoes  are 
now  extincl.     The  b.-tsalt  ni-pears,  as  I  have  ,aid, 
in  preci])itou«  cVAh  divided   into  vertical  columns 
like  the  i'ulisades.     In  another  portion   is  a  mass 
of  white  cal<:areous  marl   abounding  in  shells  and 
not  far  off'  is  a  amaller  cone— a  mass  of  volcanic 
matter  of  later  dale    than   tho  other.      After  tho 
volcano    had  poured   forth  its   lava  until   it    had 
piled  up  a  mountain  3,000  feet  high,  and  a  valley 
had  been  cut  downtotiio  subjacent  granite  through 
a  great  series  of  volcanic  rocks,  and  after  the  lake 
had  been  drained  by  a  river  called  ilie  Coos,  tlicn 
there  happened  another  volcanic  eruption  from  tho 
volcano  called  Puy  do  Tartaret  similar  to  the  one 
which  was  formed  in  tho    Bay  of  I'iaiae   which  it 
resembles  in  structure  and  size.       Now  when  this 
was  thrown  up  (which  is  but  a  type  of  a  hundred 
similar  cones  in  that  part  of  France,)  it  stopped 
up  the  course  of  the  Coos— blocking  it  up  so  as  to 
produce  a  lake  which  once  extended  much  farther' 
for  the  alluvial    matter  which  was   carried  into  it 
formed  a  largo  Delta  wliich  greatly  curtailed  its 
boundaries.       At  the  same  time  that  tho  volcano 
bursted  forth  in  the  midst  of  this   ancient  valley 
out  flowed   streams   of  lava  from  tho  other  side, 
which  you  may  see  passing  at  the  base  of  tho  hill 
on  which    tho    castlo   of  Muro   stands.      Flowing 
down  tho    valley   for   thirteen    miles  in  a  narrow 
stream  it  dispossessed  tno  river  of  its  ancient  bed 
as  has  been   the  case  in    Iceland    within  the  last 
century,  when  streams  of  lava   have    flowed  from 
the  sides  of  Hecla  and  Skapta   Jokul  and  I'mced 
rivers  to  flow  aside  from  their  usual  beds.     So  out 
of  this  flowed  a  stream  which  took  its  course  along 
tho  base  of  the  hills,    cutting  its  way  through  the 
fresh  water  formations. 

It  is  a  matter  of  proof  that  these  strata  are 
really  of  fresh  water  formation— that  they  were 
formed  in  ancient  lakes  where  were  left  valleys 
after  the  draining  of  the  lakes,  and  that  through 
the  bottom  of  these  flowed  the  lava.  Thus  we 
may  trace  tho  cappings  np  to  Mount  Dor,  the  an- 
cient and  grand  centi-e  of  the  first  eruption.  From 
this  tho  higher  cappings  of  basalt  were  produced  ; 
and  to  cause  these  phenomena  and  cut  through 
the   valleys   so   oa   to  allow  other  valleys  to  be 


formc<l,  how  great  a  aorias  of  changes   and  how 
long  a  chronological  order    of  events    is  miplied  ! 
The  bight  of  Mount   Dor  above    the   level    of  the 
sea  is  7000  feet,    and    wo   can    look    back  to  tho 
lime  when  that  country  was  only  3000  feet   above 
the  sea,  and  consisteJ   exclusively   of  iho    funda- 
mental granitv.     At  that  time  we  find  there   wcro 
depressions  in  which  there  were  a  number  of  lakes 
extending  all  the  way  from  I'aris  to  the  source  of 
tho  river  Loire.     That  was  the  first  state  of  things, 
and  the  mountai/,s  were  featureless  in  appcaranco 
—with  round  swells  but  with  no    picturesque,  un- 
OTun  outline— and    into    tho    lakes  sediment   wo.', 
carried  by  rivers,  and  the  bed  a,  of  which    I    shall 
soon  speak,    were  accumulated.       Then    came  a 
^  period  of  the  draining   of  the  lakes,  and  then  tho 
I  excavation  of  the  valleys  ;  just  as  we  have  on  tho 
borders    of  Lake    Superior    and    other   Northern 
lakes,  where  the  rocks  are  granite.    If  Earthriuakes 
should  occur  and  shake  that  region  and  alter  the 
level  of  the  country,  the  lakes    would   be  drained 
and  we  should  have  tho    second  blato  of  things  tii 
ia  this  part  of  France.     If  we  follow  the  volcanic 
eruj.tions  in  the  same  district   until    the   Java  was 
piled  3000  feet    high,   we  should    have  the  third 
penod.     If  floods  should   produce    deep   valleys, 
n-.d  a  new   set   of  volcanoes    should  form    small 
mountains  at  tho  bottom  of  the  valleys,  we  should 
have  the  fourth  period.     Tho   fifth    period    would 
anivo  when  rivers   should    have   eaten   out    deep 
chasms  even  in  the  most  modern  lava,  and  formed 
precipices    some    two  hundred    feet  high— which 
would  involve  a  period  of  considerable  duration. 

While  great  changes  are  going  on  in  the  inani- 
mate world  others  no  less  interesting  are  produced 
in  the  animate  world ;  for  we  see  entire  fluctua- 
tions in  quadrupeds  and  other  beings  which  suc- 
cessively inhabit  the  region.  It  is  impossible  U. 
reprcse»tin  a  picture,  in  their  proper  proportions, 
the  hight  of  the  various  parts  of  the  country.  The 
fre.Mi  water  formations  do  not  appear  sufficiently  in 
depression  to  give  the  proper  appearance  of  the 
ancient  lakes. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  superior  upheaval  of 
tho  Southern  part  of  tho  country  was  what  caused 
the  drainage  of  the  Lake  and  the  excavation  of  tho 
valleys  which  are  cut  through  them,  producing 
what  is  called  the  Lacustrine  formation.  If  wo 
simply  take  for  granted  the  upheaval  of  the  whole 
district,  (which  need  surprise  no  one,  for  we  shall 
have  occasion  to  show  that  far  more  extensive  up- 
heavals  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  are  now  going 
on  ;)  we  need  only  suppose  a  series  of  movements 
such  as  are  demonatrated  to  have   taken  place,  to 


1 


^ 


havo  rnim^d  the  Southern  portion  at  a  greainr  rate; 
than  th«  Norihoni,  to  find  un  easy  exjilaimtion  for 
thoso  gaographiciil  phiMiomcna. 

I  hav<'  now  stntml  tlmt  rotmnpomnoously  with 
thoso  mighty  ciuiiigo,-!,  physiicul  aiul  geogrupliirul, 
there  wont  on  n  series  of  revohiiions  in  organic 
life.  I  am  not  going  to  enter  in  the  present  lec- 
ture upon  the  dilHi'ult  problem  of  tlno  origin  of 
granite.  We  must  take  the  granite  as  it  exists  in 
the  country.  Hills  arc  made  of  it,  and  lakes  have 
been  hollowed  out  of  it.  I  will  eome  at  onee, 
then,  to  the  Laeuslriiio  period.  The  lakes  were 
inhabited  by  adifl'erent  set  of  shell-fish,  of  molus- 
eular  animals,  watei-birds,  crocodiles  and  turtles 
from  any  that  now  cxi-<t  in  that  part  of  hninco- 
There  arc  jiow  no  such  animals  as  onee  al)wunded 
in  the  ancient  lakes  of  Auvcrgne.  We  find  their 
i«!mnin-;  well  preserved  in  the  various  strata.  The 
tortoise  whieh  llien  existed  is  not  now  to  be  found. 
I  may  remark,  too,  that  there  have  been  discov- 
ered the  skeletons  of  some  thirty  or  forty  (piadru- 
peds  to  which  Cuvikr  gave  as  many  different 
names,  as  the  I'alujotherium,  Anoplothtfrium,  &c., 
which  need  not  bo  mentioned.  The  I'alaiotherium  is 
nn  intermediate  species  between  the  Tapir  and  the 
Uhinoceros,  and  the  Anoplotheria  has  some  rela- 
tion to  the  same  animals,  and  also  to  the  hog  tribe. 
There  are  also  several  species  of  animals  found  in 
the  Hfiighborhood  of  Paris,  which  now  exist — 
though  not  in  that  region — as,  (or  instjuice,  the 
species  of  Oppossum,  which  now  exists  only  in  this 
country  and  Australia.  On  the  whole,  tiiere  are 
about  fifty  species  of  cpiadrupeds  discovered,  some 
cf  which  are  as  largo  as  the  Rhinoceros.  I  need 
not  say  that  a  single  jaw,  or  even  sometimes  a 
single  tooth,  is  quite  sufficient  in  the  hands  of  u 
Naturalist  to  decide  the  species  of  these  Mamma- 
lia. These  animals  were  undoubtedly  washed  down 
by  the  swelling  of  the  rivers,  just  I's  they  are  liable 
to  be  now.  We  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that 
these  fifty  species  of  quadrupeds  have  now  passed 
away  from  the  globe.  Some  might  doubt  our 
ability  to  say  this ;  but  a  little  consideration  of  the 
fossils  found  will  be  sutTiciently  convincing.  I 
liave  procured  drawings  of  one  or  two  shells  which 
are  there  found — as,  for  instance,  the  Planorbis, 
which  abounds  at  present  in  the  lakes  of  North 
America,  and  which  once  existed  in  the  lakes  of 
France,  and  are  now  found  in  the  strata.  The 
Valvata,  a  fresh-water  shell  which  is  common 
kerc  and  in  Europe,  was  also  to  be  met  in  the  old 
Laeuatrine  formation  of  France.  Any  naturalist 
will  be  easily  convinced  that  these  shells  are  now 
extinct  in  that  region,  and  no  one  will  be  so  skep- 


tical as  not  readily  to  grant  that  wo  are  safe  in 
saying  that  the  Palii!Otherium,  the  Megatherium, ond 
many  other  large  quadrupedij  which  Cuvikr  dib- 
coveroil  and  roinpared,  are  now  lo.^t,  and  havi> 
been  permilti'd  by  the  Author  of  Nature  to  die  out 
from  the  globe.  This  is  the  first  state  of  the  ancient 
world  of  this  ri'gion,  to  which  wo  are  carried  back 
by  till-  geological  monuments  of  this  Mcene. 

Tho  next  period  of  the  ancient  volcanic  rocks 
of  Mount  Dor  was  when  they  produced  a  perfectly 
distinct  racii  of  quudnipctds,  of  which  I  believe 
only  one  has  been  found  to  r<'semble  those  of  the 
former  period.  All  the  genera  are  dilTerent,  ai.d 
almost  all  of  this  period  are  of  existing  genera, 
but  not  to  be  found  in  tint  puit  of  Murope.  We 
find  the  rhinoceros,  the  elephant,  tho  hippopota- 
mus, the  l.>par,  awd  others,  which  never  within  his- 
torica!  times  have  peopled  that  cold  region.  Tho 
beaver  which  is  found  is  not  the  Hume  as  that  now 
common  to  Europe  and  North  America,  and  so 
with  a  vast  multitude  of  others. 

But  you  may  ask  iiow  we  should  havo  these  fos- 
sils remaining  in  volcanic  rocks — how  they  could 
bo  pre3er\cd  if  they  wero  enfolded  in  n  sheet  of 
red-hot  matter  as  i'rom  a  furnace  ?  It  is  easy  to 
explain  how  this  might  happen.  In  all  volcanoes, 
where  the  lavas  are  feldspathic,  there  are  great 
floods  ;  lakes  which  exist  in  the  craters  are  sud- 
denly voided,  as  happened  in  ^Etna  when  floods 
issued  from  it  which  swept  away  rocks  and  quad- 
rupeds with  ease.  Showers  of  ashes  also  fall,  and 
often  surprise  wild  animals — destroy,  bury  and 
preserve  them.  In  this  way  it  is  that  we  find  the 
skeletons  of  so  many  quadrupeds  entombed  in  the 
ancient  ashes — conglomerates  us  they  are  called — 
the  rocks  being  forined  of  the  pebbles  carried 
down  by  these  floods. 

But  before  I  speak  farther  of  the  quadrupeds  of 
that  period,  all  of  which  are  now  extinct,  let  me 
describe  msre  minutely  the  operations  of  the  first 
period — the  first  gradual  filling  up  of  the  lakes  and 
the  formation  of  the  Lacustrine  strata ;  then  we 
will  speak  of  tha  origin  of  the  volcanic  mass  and 
of  the  animals  buried  in  it.  Let  us  first  ask  how 
these  ancient  lakes  were  filled  up.  We  find  around 
tlie  borders,  and  under  the  other  strata,  beds  of 
pebbles  which  have  been  derived  from  tho  round- 
ing of  fragments  torn  from  rocks  in  the  neighbor- 
hood; and  there  is  this  remarkable  circumstance 
connected  with  it,  that  no  geologist  has  ever  de- 
tected a  single  pebblo  of  volcanic  origin  in  thes« 
conglomerates.  Every  one  knows  that  if  a  river 
flows  from  a  country  abounding  in  particular  rocks, 
it  will  tear  olf  and  carry  along  portions  of  them, 
disclmrjnng  them  nenr  tlio  shores  of  the  sea;     The 


m 
n 


• 

s 
> 

1 

r 

ti 

i 


I.fie  mu.l  i«cnrrie,lc.ut  u,  a  <;n.aipr  HiMnnm.  \.,w 
there  am  van  pile,  of  volcanic  rock.,  Homo  soft 
»udoiU,r»  Imnl  ami  .ap.iblo  of  b.ing  n,uml..,l  ; 
iliou^h  they  nri,  Hom.ni.n...  «  hui.(l,,-,l  f,.,.t  thirk 
not  ono  H  foun.l  in  iho  old  Rrnvol  l,,.,!.  „f  ,h,.  J  „.' 
•  "Htnru.  fomiaiio,,.  T|,.,  i„foren, r  is  olnions- 
tlmt  not  one  volcanic  en, pHon  ha</ occurred,  nny 


6 


vo«,oN  of  plant,  pntrifi,.,!  in  th.io  Ik-.I..  In  „,v. 
.•ral  hk.M  of  N.  w-York-in  Svnvcn  Lakn  for  i„. 
Ht-uic..,  ih«  wholo  bottom  i«  cov.Tcd  by  a  green 
I'lant  Hillod  6'A«mnnd  r,>.^^„„,7c  ]„  ,uch  num 
''<>'-.s  thnt  without  oil.nr  in.lirulio,,,  iheHc  alone 
wo.il.l  tell  UH  of  tbo  oriKi,,  of  ihn  fornm'ion. 
It  W.U  formerly  a  matter  of  tfreat  dilKculty  with 


'■'"••o  than  .pon  tho  borders  of  Lake  Superio,  ./'I'"'' '^'""''■'y '"""""  "^  *r'-<'""Ji'Heulty  with 
which  u  a  country  without  volcanic  rorkn  This  i'  IT"'  "'"'  °"'''''  ""'"«•"''""  '«  •-•xplain  how 
negulivn  f,...t  MlMnopn.v.s  that  in  iho  f.r^t   ,„.,io.l      I  ^^""""t"""  '"^  "'t""  f"und  over  wide  areas ; 

'ho  region  .a,  tnuKp.ilund  no  vuIranicenMMionJ...'''"^' '"''•'"''''"   "    '"'«''^    ''^"^    "^'^r  the 


ho  region  ^^a,  tnaupnl  and  no  vulcanic  enipiion, 
liafi  occurred. 

The  gravel  b,,|,  m  tl.o  bottom  of  the  lake  »,.on 
became   fine    naml  and  passed  into  lin,.    marl  •— 
«omo  «and  w,-.s  earri..d  lo  a  grcafr  di  ,.anee  as  you 
may  now  sec  falling  elouds  of  it  at  the  uioutii.  of 
mers  settling  to  tho  hot.om  and  being  carried  out. 
Marl  winch  has  a   l,.«f.|ik«  appearance    i,    often 
produced  by  the  small    shells  of  an    insect  called 
cyprt,-a  crustacean-or  between  an  in.cct  and 
a  crustaccnn-which  i.  very  like  a  bivalve,  such  as 
<rosh  water  muscles,   with  tlii.  diflerence,  that  it 
molts  us  mteguments,   while  tho  others  do  not  - 
Accordingly    myriads    of   these   shells  fall  to  iho 
bottom,  and  for  hundreds  of  square  miles  you  may 
hnd  that  the  strata  have  plates  and  kaves  as  mica- 


Hliore,  butjiot  so  easy  to  understand  bow  it  should 
!'••  found  at  a  great  .listan.-«  out ;  for   the  borders 
of  those  ancient  lakes,  with  all  their  bays,  can  yet 
>«  traced   a.   accurately  as    if  they   now  existed. 
How  should  those  fndusinl  Limestones    bo    found 
ten    or   twelve  miles    from    shore  ?     A  few  yrara 
8...CC,  while  in  Denmark,  I  believe  I  found  an  ex- 
plniuun.n.     In  company  with  Dr.  Beck,  an  emi- 
"<"iit  naturalist  of  Copenhagen,  I  saw  in  a  lake  29 
or  JO  miles  in  diamctar  a  largo  band  of  rushes  or 
roods  floating  on  tho  water;  they  had  been  torn 
up  and  floated  out  miles  from  the  shore.     And   on 
every  one  of  them   was   an   immense    number  of 
these  Phrygarca,  wafted  out   with  thorn  ;  and  I 
found  that  twice  every  year  a  orop  of  these  i-ushes 
of  difleront  kinds  is  prodnccd,  covered  by  different 


causes  sand-stone  to  divide  ,  and  this  is  produ  ed  k  nd      r  1           "  '^'■°'''"''''  "'''''''^  ''^  '*'«"^"' 

entirely  by  tho  case,  of  -hat  email  species  of  „  ;,",,.   ^rygr^vm,  and  carried  out  by  storms  to 

male.     Many  other  shells  show  that  this  LTfr't  r"'--'^" '''''*    '^''"'    ""'   '""""'''   '^^ 

water  and  not  a  maHno  formation,  ^^  T.^X  ^Z  ^t^:^  '''  -'''''  -''  ^'^'^^  '^' 

sh»)w  how  ETadual  wiiq    ibo  ,,.„„„ ■....               ^  i  "' «•  "•  .iUM.rgne. 


sh,.w  how  gradual  was    the  process  that  went  on 
as  does  also  another  kind  of  rock  called  InJu^ial 
Lime,(onc~,yhk.h  consists  of  thousands  of  cases 
of  animals  ^^  hich  have  been  imbedded  by  tho  wa- 
ters that  /lowed  into  the  lakes.     This  is  in  the  un 
per  part  of  th.  marl,  ,,nd  we  see  it  breaking  out  n 
the  side  of  tho  bill  at  Clermont,  when  it  occurs  in 
round  nodules.      Every   one   of  these  consists  of 
cases  Bt  insects  encased  by  limestone.     Thi,  i„ 
««ct,  which  i.  called  Pkrygurea,  when  it  is  i„  the 
lar.a  state,  an<I  exists  in  the  water  in  tho  form  of 
a  caterpillar,  cover.s  its   case  with  shells  to  give  it 
a  proper  weigh, ;  it  often   takes  a  hundred    shells 
at  once;  as  we  see  in   the   American    Lakes  they 


The  transition  from  the  Lacustrine  period  to  the 
Volcanic  is  not  abrupt.     Changes  nuely  occur  so 
suddenly  as  are  represented  by  geologists.     None 
Huch  have  taken  place  in  Auvergne.     Though  tl.o 
two  periods  are  very  distinct,  yet  the  volcano  be- 
gan  us  eruption  before    the  Jakes  wore    drained. 
Showers  of  ashes  fell  into  tho  lakes  so.hat  volcanic 
("Js  are  often  found   to  alternate  ^.  ith  the  marl 
contaming  limestone  which  is  ih.  ,.pp,r  part  of 
the  formation.     Here  and  ,hen>  ,„,.y  ,,,,3  fa^  found 
dzkcs  or  threads  of  basalt.     These  facts  show  that 
there  were  few  outbreaks  of  this  igneous  matter 
heforo  the  lakes  were  drained,  when   greet  rivers 
were  still  enrrying  ,lown  mud  to   the  lakes.     Ru, 


take  small  stones  for  the  same  purpose      Thev  J    T^T  T     '"""''^^  ''"''"  '""^^  ^"   'he  Ial;os.     Rut 
ton  seize  upon  these  shells  withou    the"  least  cere      the  Ivc^'  T  ^^j-^^""-"''  '"'^'  '^-^-   -.mmencod 
mony,  even  when  tho  fish  are  alivo  witki    tLT        nc  ,'"'""  "'  f'^'  ^'^"">-^-        ■ 
and  walk  about  in  this  way.      It  seems  that    t         f  ,  '  ^-^''^^'^l'-"  o(  the  valley  there  is  abeauti- 

-am  akout  in  those  lakes  when  thvT.Vot  n f  '     f  '""'''^  ''""^"  ''''  ^^"^'^  "'  ^^^  ^cos.     When 
another  encased  in   carbonate   o    l7m      Zl^Z    T'  'T'  "'"  '^^""'^  '^'°  ''''•'"•-''-  "^  ^ 
may  now  find  tho  whole  mass  league'^  extnt         TTru  "    T  "'"'  ''""''  '^"""  ^^"^  --"^  ^or 
This  may  give  some  notion   of  the     n"   e  ut7  ''r'^'^^-^^'^  '"'   ^--'-  ^  -'-" 

-1  tho  gradual  process  neceesa^  to ^  odutiTet    ITZT      '''^  '""^^  °^'""-'^-     ^'  '-=-  P-t 
1-200  feet  thick.     You  mav   of^n  find   the  1  I  u  ''"" '"'"'"'  ^'^'  of  pumico  stone, 

.    Often  find   the  seed  1  which  is  sometimes  found  floating  on  the  sea ;  it  i 


MM 


I 


>^<i(i-      In  lav* 

Lakp   for  ill. 
d   by  a  green 

ill  such  num 

these  alone 
nia'ion. 
lilKculty  with 

explain  how 
r  wide  arras; 
i*t  near  tho 
low  it  should 

the  burdem 
Joys,  con  yet 
iiiw  existed. 
»    bo    found 
A  fow  yrara 
ound  an  ex- 
iCK,  an  em]« 
in  a  lake  20 
f  rushes  or 
I  been  torn 
.     And   OB 

number  of 
3m  ;  and  I 
leso  rushes 
by  difterent 

storms  to 
noved  tho 
relation  to 

riod  to  tiic 
/  occur  so 
ts.     None 
hough  tJic 
)Ioano  he- 
drained. 
t  volcanic 
the  marl 
r  part  of 
be  found 
how  that 
s  matter 
f  *  rivers 
i^.     But 
imenccd 

ibeauti- 

When 

I  of  the 

int  Dor 

which 
id  part 

stone, 
a;  hU 


i 


tt 


produced  hy  th«  trnchytn  that  iit  thrown  up,  tho 
gMtm  expiindinK  within  it  produciuf^  thv  poren. 
There  in  no  piiniico  in  the  biisallic  formation  nor 
in  tho  uppi'r  part  of  Ml.  I>or;  but  in  the  oidt-r 
portion*  you  may  »en  thousand*  of  them  Hhowin:; 
how  gradually  ih<'  tnnnntiiiti  was  formed  just  iis 
were  ihi'  Larustrino  fortniitioni*. 

In  a  ffoneral  view  of  fht»Ne  Hubjects  yon  may  dr- 
upair  of  undi'rHlaiiditi;;  thi-ni ;  but  wbori  we  ex- 
amine the  minute  piirti  and  sub-divisions — whi-n 
you  «e.!  tlio  animal  rcnviins  preserved  in  the  sfnila 
nn«i  sep  in  the  volcanic  rocks  how  one  shower  of 
Oiihcit  has  fallen  above  iinother,  yon  will  begin  to 
liave  hope  of  coniiireliendinif  the  successive  steps 
by  which  these  geological  monumeiits  have  been 
^uilt  up.  We  see  how  the  mountain  was  formed 
by  the  greater  filling  up  of  volcanic  matter  at  tli;it 
point  tbim  elsewhere  ;  after  that  we  see  how  the 
yalloy  was  again  hollowed  out,  and  then  came  the 
flriod  from  Mount  Oor  bringing  along  the  rhinoce- 
ros and  other  animals  of  the  siecond  period.  Again 
was  this  cut  out,  leaving  bones  enough  to  deter- 
mine its  character ;  ami  lar^ily  the  river  had  its 
channel  occupied  by  ilir  most  modern  lava  stream. 
About  iO  different  species  of  (piadnipeds  have  ex- 
sted  there — of  all  si/.e^  from  that  of  the  water  rat 
to  tho  great  Mastodon. 

In  the  eruption  of  (.'oseguina,  in  Nicaragua, 
Central  America,  on  the  18th  of  January,  1R35, 
only  seven  years  ago,  there  was  a  fall  of  ashes 
which  reached  several  hundred  miles,  and  some 
foil  at  Chiapa,  1,200  miles  distant.  But  for  25 
miles  tho  bods  were  ton  feet  (hick.  Birds,  cattle 
and  wild  animals  wern  scorched  to  death  in  grent 
numbers  and  buiicd  in  these  ashes;  fish  were 
smothered  in  the  rivers  ;  birds  fell  from  the  air, 
and  the  destruction  extended  over  a  vast  region  of 
country.  There  is  evident  reason  to  believe  that, 
a  similar  eru;*tion  occurred  during  tho  formation 
of  this  anrioni  mountain,  and  that  the  creatures 
which  lived  there  were  buried  in  the  fall  of  red- 
hot,  melted  matter  from  tho  air.  Between  the 
two  eruptions  there  was  probably  a  long  interval, 
and  the  animals  had  time  torecover  their  numbers. 
There  have  been  intervals  of  seventeen  centuries  in 
the  history  of  active  volcanoes.  In  tho  island  of 
Ischia  is  an  instance :  and  in  the  history  of  Vesu- 
vius there  wa.i  an  interval  of  five  centuries.  We 
have  a  description  of  Vesuvius  in  1631;  it  was 
then  covered  with  woed  ;  its  crater  was  five  miles 
in  circumference,  and  over  its  edge,  after  descend- 
ing a  short  distance,  was  a  beautiful  copse  wo»d  ; 
grassy  plains  spread  out  below,  cattle  were  grazing 
upon  thorn,  and  a  pleasant  lake  added  charms  to 


the  scenn.  The  peasanU  who  lived  about  tliem 
hofl  begun  to  look  \ipon  the  stories  of  fiery  (lo<Kli 
having  (xtund  out  of  it  a^  fables  of  the  olden 
lime.  All  was  peace  and  security.  But  ther« 
came  nn  earthquake,  and  in  an  instant  all  their 
foroHfs  and  grusny  plains  iin<l  their  animals  were 
hurled  int.)  the  air  with  the  ;i-,lies  and  (lame;  then 
arose  as  from  a  caMron  a  fiery  tlnod  that  filled  the 
whole  gulf,  (lowed down  in  seven  rivers  and  took  a 
direction  <lire("tls'  over  where  nerculaneum  had 
been  destroyed  sixteen  cuntniies  before  by  a  simi- 
lar flootl  of  molten  Ittvo :  and  thus  one  town  was 
buried  beneiitli  tin?  other.  After  the  ht.atrd  gases 
have  found  n'lief,  burst  forth  and  been  discharged, 
it  appears  thai  the  duct  or  chainu-l  gets  sealed  up 
— the  lava  cool^  ixnd  consolidates,  and  it  then  re* 
<piires  no  little  force  to  Iniisi  ii  open  again  an«l 
cause  a  new  discliurgc.  Thus  tlierc"  i»  a  long  in- 
terval of  rest  until  the  gases  again  accimni late  and 
have  suflicient  force  to  make  for  themselves  u  pas- 
tiiige. 

Thus  much  for  the  Lacustrine  period,  and  now 
a  few  words  ri'specting  tho  more  modern  volcano 
as  a  type  of  the  class  which  are  the  result 
of  only  one,  two  or  three  eruption.^,  and  are  often 
formed  o;i  the  peaks  of  Vesuvius  and  JEtna  a 
the  hight  of  from  500  to  700  feet  in  a  few 
months.  There  is  u  considerable  crater  at  the 
ttp,  covered  with  beautiful  chesnut  trees.  Getting 
at  the  top  of  the  crater  you  look  down  into  a  doop 
funnel.  One  circumstance  of  interest  in  regard  to 
this  is  its  loose,  incoherent  nature.  There  can 
have  been  no  violent  rush  of  water,  of  sufficient 
forco  to  carry  away  animals,  else  much  of  this 
loose  matter  would  have  been  carried  away.  Every 
thing  about  it  looked  so  fresh  that  one  would  say 
it  could  have  been  formed  but  n  short  time  ago, 
and  yet  we  find  no  mention  in  history  of  any  erup- 
tion in  this  part  of  France ;  and  when  we  go  down 
the  valley  and  examine  the  lava  stream  which 
we  know  to  be  its  own,  we  open  our  eyes  to  tho 
prodigious  antiquity  of  this  most  modern  volcano. 
By  reason  of  its  loose  structwre,  as  is  alsw  the  cage 
with  JEtna.  all  the  rain  that  falls  upon  it  is  imbiboil 
at  once,  and  no  streams  can  be  formed  down  its 
sides. 

Following  these  valleys  alongyou  see  at  last  the 
old  river  bed  as  it  was  in  tho  olden  time  when 
there  was  no  lake  and  the  river  (lowed  on  unin- 
terruptedly. It  has  a  bed  of  pebbles — formed  by 
rounding  tht?  fragments  of  basaltic  trachytic  rocks 
from  the  higher  country  and  from  tho  cappings  of 
the  hills.  At  a  still  higher  point  wo  find  no  vol- 
canic pebblflB,  because  there  were  no   volcanoes : 


P 
P 


n 

0 

a 
> 
1 

f 
f 


8 


^"r:::;rr:r:rr'ir::l:s::irr-..-- "■:;«-•- 


"f  the  .  n.mtry   in    ..rdcr  t»  bo  o  w»t.«r  courw.  a^t 
we  know  it  wiis. 

CmHfir  .<n,  amped  hif  nrmy  but  nbout   ton  iiiiloM 
(r<.m  C'lorin..nl,  an<l  yor  it  does  not  B|)pf.ar  tliut  im 
WBsawun.  ,,r„ny  cniialnn    hnving   taken  jilii...  in 
.Imtvidni.y,  .,..  he  would  kavo  „|ln.l..d  to    it  in,  ,„..   ,„,,.    ,„„,    , 
hu    Con,m,.„tari.,H.     And    Apoilonuriu*  certainly    .nnde  ,.,  ,(„.  „..„„ 


would  hrive  reronl-.l  ii  had  any  «u.-h  eruption 
taken  place  within  his  hiMiorienl  knowledge,  ,1,  h.. 
iflHidod  in  thin  vi.rinily  and  wrote  n  very  niiniite 
nccouni  of\u  hiHtoiy;  hut  it  doon  not  appear  that 
he  had  th.^  least  idea  of  ijie  origin  of  tJi.<  lake.  So 
llmt  lii»  Hilonco  in  eonchmive  n»  to  the  I'igh  anti- 
quity of  ihe  ocrurrrnce  of  ovon  thtigo  modern 
ovontH. 

You  have  from  theie  obsenationrt  nemo  idea  of 
lJ»e  great  nur,c«HHion  of  evontu  contemplated  by 
Zoology.     If  y<.u  uk  mo  why  all  the.c  hills  and 


"ri«M.  of  ihin^H  '-why  rhey  n.ay  not  all  have  been 
railed  into  e.-ii^trnco  at  iho  tumo  timo  at  the  nu- 
'•l«'H  of  the  planet  itnelf '_F  nmy  an.iwei.  d.ateven 
the  brief   .k.ieton  of   faet.  I  have  ^^iven   will    be 
Hurtieient  lo  Hhow  that  thi«  could  not  have  been 
th."   ei.Hr;    i|,„t    ihene   hilU  ami  valley*  were  no 
'l«'  nt  the  same  inHinnt,  but  that  they  were  the 
work  of  dilTerenl  cau«e»,  acting  aidillorfntiime.^-. 
H..n.e  being  i^iuduced  by  tho  netion  of  water,  and 
other,  by  lir,. ;  ibiit  tliey  were  produced  at  difl'ereiit 
periods  of  time  by  g.roiidary  cuuhci,  appointed  by 
the  Author  of  Nature    to  govern    the   sucee.xivc 
.hangCH  in  the  inanimate  and  ponnibly  in  tho  oni- 
mate  cnmiion,  which  Jie  hu.i  in  hi»  wiH.lom  em. 
ployed   in  producing   the    BucceHwive  changes   of 
which  tb<'  records  arc  found  in  the  very  structuiv 
of  the  globe. 


I 


LECTURE    J  I 


I»  the  course  of  my  last  Lecture,  while  end.  av- 
oring  to  describe  tho  geological  phenomena  of  a 
region  about  the  centre  of  Franco  in  Auvergne,  I 
bad  occasion  to  introduce  you  to  several  clusgcs  of 
»trata— tho   grani/ie,  tho   voltanic   and  certain 
aqueous  strum,  constituting  three  of  the  grand  di- 
nsi«ns  of  the  rocks  of  which  tho  Earth's  crust  in 
made  up.     Let  me    remark   that  by    the  Earth's 
crust  technically  wo  mean  that  pun  of  the  exterio. 
of  our  planet  which  is  accewiblo  to  human  observ- 
ation;  and  tlio  whole  of  this  may  bo  said  to  be 
mado  up  of  these  throe  kinds  of  rock. 

The  granitic  rocks  are  crystalline  and  contain 
ne  organic  remains  which  have  been  mentioned  as 
•haxacterisiug  the  sedimentary  or  aqueous  stiatu.  ' 
They  aro  crystalline  masses  and  the  true  granite  is 
unstratified.  It  has  uo  pebbles  nor  any  of  those 
fnj,  or  parous  rocks  which  aro  found  in  the  vol- 
«Miic  class. 

The  volcanic  rocks  may  also  bo  said  to  be  void 
rf  organic  remains  except  those  portions  whidi  I 
doscnbtHl  as  containing  beds  of  sand  and  ashes 
showered  down  from  the  uir  or  ^vhich  fell  into 
Jakes;  or  except  those  5rfima,  and  conglomnr- 
•t«  wbch  I  described  as  having  flowed  down  the 


flank,  of  some  volcnne  as  at  Mount  Dor,  in  which 
aua.lrupcds  and  other  animals  have  bee.  buried 
and  their  skeletons  found  so  as  to  determine  what 
animals  inhabited  that  country  when  the  over- 
whtjlming  catastrophe  occurred. 

The  aqueous  strata,  or  those  which  were  formed 
"•  lakes  and  seas,  ur«  the  next  division.      I  ,ha'l 
only  allude  to  these  briefly  by  saying  that  they  are 
known  to  bo  of  fresh   water  formation  fr„m  the 
fresh  >vutor  shells,  &c.  which  aro  found  imbedded 
'"  th«n.     Tbese  fresh  water  strata  compose  but  • 
small  portion  of  the   strata   of  tho  Earth's  crust  • 
just  as  lakes  now  are  of  .mall  extent  in  proportion 
to  the  seas  on  the  Earth's  surface,  so  were  former- 
ly the  estuaries  and  lakes  of  small  area  compared 
to  the  ocean :  and  we  find  these  sedimentary  stra- 
ta containing  Lacustrine  or  fresh  water  remains 
much  loss  extensive  than  tho  marine  strata.     We 
find  the  strata  of  marine  origin,  containing  sen 
shells  and  corals,  at  all  .listance,  from  the  present 
shore  of  the  oc.„„,  „nd  at  all  hights  above  the  level 
of  tb.   sen.     This  fa.t  alone   wot.ld  render  the  re- 
suits  el  geological  i.»vestigatio„  extremely  interest- 
'Hff-     ^\  c  r,„d  the  marine  strata  often  fur  in  die  in- 
tonort  and  among  the  Alp,  there  aro  met,  10,000 


I 


9 


1 


I 


or  1 1,000  fmit  above  iho  level  of  ih«  unn,  rockn  con- 
taining unci^iiivdoal  romain*  of  rrt'utiitnt  ihutonctt 
lived  ill  ill  •  (icoan,  I  huve  mynrlf  j^iitlmri'tl  ll,ni(;- 
ttunei  conliiinin^  inarinu  *MU  far  iiIiuva  ttiu  iilKlit 
uf  p<>rputiiiil  tuiiiw  ill  till*  l)rt'iii'>io  AI|iH  niitl  at 
Mount  CiiniH'l,  tlioliigluMi  |>oiiit  of  thii  I'jnni-o 
And  iiiil  mnro  n'cciitly  thrru  hu\u  bnon  found  in 
till)  liimtnflnyii  Mountiiiiis  l(i,()00  ft'ct  uliovo  thf 
levul  uf  ihi<  si>u,  siiriilariiixiiiiic  roniaiim  ;  nii<t  tliirf 
nut  only  ill  tlig  tnouiitainn,  hut  limtMti)iu>it  rontuin- 
iiig  thcxe  l''M«ilii  lire  coniiiiuully  found  tliroii^h  the 
wlinlo  t.iiljli>  Iiiiiil  iif  Tliilx't ;  no  tlint  iliis  va.tt  plat- 
lurrn  of  A-<ia  ii*  miuio  up  ot  ruck*  fornu'd — nut  iit 
tho  nioit ancient  pt-ologiral  p'riod— ;,'riu!unlly  l>f- 
neath  the  mcftn,  and  wliioh  have  r*in«;n  risen  up  In 
higher  iv^icuiH.  I  »peuk  ua  if  we  liiid  airfjuly 
proved  that  ilii'*  jirocens  is  carried  <ui  liy  the  up- 
heaval of  the  laud  and  not  by  the  subHidence  of 
the  Heo.  In  my  next  Lecture  I  will  endeav  >r  to 
convince  yuu  l>y  distinct  evidence  of  the  iniglity 
cliangos  that  have  taken  place,  that  this  v/a^  the  re- 
sult of  a  fining  up  of  the  land,  nrd  not  of  ii  Mink- 
lug  'wn  uf  the  i,oa.  Speaking  in  the  language  of 
•hat  tli(!oi7,  these  mountain  masses,  which  now  ap- 
neiir  at  liights  of  one,  two  and  even  three  miles 
above  tlui  level  of  the  sea,  were  formerly  boneutli 
tlio  ocean,  and  were  raised  up  during  the  first  era 
of  animals  and  plants,  and  not  uU  at  the  samope- 
liud. 

Now  llie  .sedimcntuiy  or  marine  strata  which  en- 
ter tliU3  largely  into  the  masses  of  the  ICarlh  are 
divided  info  various  groups,  which  we  refer  to  dis- 
tinct periods.  They  form  a  chronological  series 
of  volcanic  action — a  history  of  the  Earth  ;  und 
when  we  trace  this  series  dawn  from  the  most  an- 
cient to  the  most  modern,  it  is  not  till  we  arrive 
at  the  latest  of  the  great  series  that  wo  come  to 
those  groups  that  environ  the  section  of  France 
which  I  have  already  described.  Grand  as  was 
lliis  series  of  (events,  it  is  not  till  wo  arrive  at  the 
latest  of  the  larger  groups  tliat  we  come  down  to 
this  Epoch.  I  sliall  not  at  the  present  meeting  at- 
tempt to  sketch  the  history  of  the  diiTi-rent  forma 
tions,  but  continue  to  describe  most  particularly 
this  strata  and  those  which  are  cotemporaneous 
with  it — those  containing  the  remains  already  al- 
luded to,  or  those  of  a  posterior  date.  Now  the 
oldest  of  the  scries  of  which  I  spoke  last,  is  the 
fundamental  granite  and  the  fresh  water  formations 
are  imposed  upon  it.  In  order  to  classify  the  dif- 
ferent depositions  which  belong  to  this  more  mod- 
ern p«riod  of  the  Earth's  history  it  is  indispensa- 
ble to  attend  to  the  organic  remains,  and  particu- 
larly to  the  shells  contained  in  it: — shells  are  more 


UKefid  in  thii  trinnefl  than  any  nthnr  ndicKtlonn, 
und  have  IxM-n  nppropiiutely  called  the  medaU,  by 
aid  of  which  nuture  has  recurdod  the  event*  of  th« 
moit  ancient  history  of  the  f^lobe.  They  are  found 
in  such  abundance  in  the  frenh  water  and  marine 
Urnta  of  all  ages  that  by  comparing  ami  conlrait- 
ing  tkem  we  may  build  up  a  chronological  lerioi, 
and  ftiid  characters  clearly  to  distinguish  the  did'ar- 
lent  periods.  In  tbii  frcith  water  (onaatinn 
In  the  ne'ghborliood  of  I'aris  are  founil  twelve 
hundred  »pecie«  of  these  shells — can  fully  dis- 
tinguished from  each  other  ;  as  is  well  known 
to  ConcholugislH  only  some  thirty  of  thdsfl  spe- 
cies are  known  now  to  exist  any  where  upwn 
the  globe.  Wo  arc  ncqoainteil  with  about 
10,000  species  of  shells;  und  of  these  only  30  re- 
semble any  <if  the  liiOO  found  in  this  strata.— 
You  may  ask  how  we  know  that  these  rocks  were 
formed  in  the  lakes  in  the  province  of  Auvorgno, 
at  the  some  lime  that  the  others  were  formed  in  th« 
sea  on  the  site  of  Paris.  The  manner  in  which  wo 
make  out  this  cotempoiancuusness  is  briefly  this: 
Rivers  carry  down  sholls  to  the  sea ;  iho  shells  of 
the  American  Lakes,  for  example,  are  carried frojn 
Luke  Erie  and  the  other  lakes  by  the  river  St.  Law- 
rence into  the  marine  gulf  of  St.  Lawrence. 
The  Tiber  carries  down  the  fresh  water  shells 
of  Italy  to  the  Me<litenanenn,  and  deposits 
them  in  the  Delta.  So  of  the  Adige  and  the  Po ; 
and  if  we  examine  the  strata  in  the  Delta  wo  find 
that  they  ar*!  filled  with  fresh  water  shells  and  con- 
tain also  marine  shells.  So  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Paris — shells  of  the  Lacustrine  deposit  are  mixed 
with  marine  shells.-  Quadrupeds,  too,  are  carried 
down  by  rivers  and  deposited  with  the  10  or  1100 
species  of  marine  shells  of  which  wo  were  speak* 
ing;  and  by  this  means  we  first  know  that  those 
quadiupcds  lived,  and  these  shells  inhabited  the 
lakes  when  the  sea  was  inhabited  by  those  testa- 
oeo.  In  Vicenzn,  Italy,  wo  find  certain  marine 
strata,  and  in  Paris  these  oltomate  with  volcanic 
formations,  and  thus  wo  make  out  the  cotompor- 
aneousness — the  Synchronism — of  a  certain  vol- 
canic formation,  and  a  certain  marine  or  Lacus- 
trine strata. 

It  is  necessary  to  have  some  technical  names  for 
these  periods,  otherwise  it  will  be  imiiossible  fop 
you  to  follow  me  when  I  allude  to  them.  By  a 
few  terms  we  may  express  in  a  word  what  it  would 
be  tedious  otherwise  to  express.  By  the  Eocent 
()c.iod,  then,  I  mean  the  oldest  as  when  this  fresh 
water  strata  of  Auvergne  and  other  districts  con- 
tains the  same  shells  of  alternating  strata.  It  takes 
Its  name  from  »iwj — the  dawn  and  Kaivof,  recent 


ml 
0*1 

A 

'*"[ 

it 

h 

a 

• 
p  I 

8 
> 
I 

r 

i] 
t 


10 


^n,c  the  foBs.hferoU8  strata  of  this  period  con- 
ta>n  but  few  spoces   that   are   now  living,   which 
-ay  .„d,cate  tho  dawn  of  the  cxiBting  HpUie7o 
jo-^eous  fauna.     Th.next  pe.odi  J,  L!:; 

ccnta,nB  a  rmnont,  „f  r..o„t  specioa-a  n,ach 
greater  nun,bor  than  the  t  ,eene,but  still  a  n,i„or. 


little  helps  to  memory  are    often  of  .^„    a      i.. 

valup  1     A»  1  •  u         ,  of  considerable 

rrirL       '""'"''   ^^-  "'Wilmington.  N 
a  and  for  40  milo.    „n  the  «antco  river  and  be' 

ween  Augusta  and  Savannah  I  found  Eocene  stt' 

a,conta.„.ng«hcll.,ofaspedo.    identical  w.^h 
U^ose  found  in  tho  Pans  basin  ;  .be  sa.ne  shells  1 

:';l!'''"^^""":---on.-.     Yon  have 


i»„     Ti                  .                         '"'-''""  a  minor-  fi.iinrl  nil  „i                                  •••-•-•"'""  wneiis  are 

ny.    The  next  penod  is  th.  Pliocene,  from  .Ae.o.  o    "he  L  ^"^  '"Z  ""''''  "^  °"  """■     ^ou  have 

more    and  ,a..„,,    recent;    because   it  contai  nsa  iL  mJ              ""  ^"'»""''""y  developed  the  ma- 

pluraUf,  of  the  existing  s,.cie.     That  is,  o  t  of  oint!d  ZT  'T''"'  ''''  '"'^'  ^"^^  ''^'•-  >^e- 

«p.c.eso«he.,.,  found  in  the  Eocene  one  or  W  .:i"r"'='^^. '-'^"'^- American  Ge- 


inn  „  ^   ■  I— ".«-«.       iimi  IS,  out  ol 

lOOspecesofshellsfound  in  the  Eocene  one  o 
wool    w„,  ,^^^^^^^^^^^^^       ^^^^,r 

land  had  beenra,,edbyvolcanoe8-in  tho  Miocene 
P«nod,  about  one  fifth  or  twenty  owt  of  the  100 
may  be  k  entified  with  existing  species.  AndTf 
we  comedown  to  the  moremodcrn  or  Pliocene pe- 
r,od  more  than  one  half  the  sh.ll.  are  identifiable- 
and  sometimes  90  out  of  the  hundred. 
When  the  volcano  which  formed  Mount  Dor  in  a 


..•o.i-;  who.  observation:!-;,,;:^::^ 
and  perhaps  adding  something  of  my  own.      Y^' 

nearly  the  .ame  proportion  a.,  those  on  the  Loire 

[  Jll!  '""'T'  '^"""^  ''""'  "P""  ''"'«"  '"-otters  lest 

pass  over  the  main  object  of  the  present  lecture 

ft  you  had  examined   a  pnnion  of  this    Co„Z 

when  the  Lacustrine  and  Eocene  strata  were  la  gZ 


penod  distinguishedas  recent.  ;:^:  ^  ^  'L^f-'t  ^"'  ^'""^^  ''^  ''  «om;V;::^ 
.n  that  region,  by  volcanic  eruptions  lake'  and  ea  I  117^7"'  •""  ""''  ''''P'-'  'he  valley  of 
<n  other  parts  of  Europe  were  fillin.  up  and   ha       'T    ^       T^' """""  ""  ''^ '"'" '''^''^ '°" 


„»  ,.  '  ^  —luij;  up  ana  tha 

ta,n  to  the  Loire    near   Tours   you  may  find  great 

urn  ers    of  marine   depositions-strata  rich    in 

-hells;  and  you   may  find,   too,  .ome  of  the   very 

luudrupeds  buried  by  the  ashes  and   scoriae  and 


-,,•  1  .  ,  ""ici    lormations,    vou 

r  nr'^'^j^:, '•"'"""  ^'^"^"^--'^'»'««^ 

.an  these  shells  and  the  other  period  there  was 
no  hing  intervening  except  a  thin  stratum  of  veget- 

t:J:^:z\.'!jr^y^^^-}  '^--  --  hav. 


oroc^s whi.h noatei down i:;;;: e  ^ ^JT  :ir a'^d r' '' ^-"^'-^o'here m;r:; 

hur.ed  near  the  shore  in  marine  deno.it  07-  Z  .       '"^'^?  ''■'^""''""  ^'•-"  '^^^^  «tate  of  the  gi 

oling  us  thus  topro.e  that  thosestrataweTeo'rml'rlr  ""'"'  '"^'^  ^«^-'^--«  lived,  „nd  wh,^ 
;n  the  same  p.Hod,  and  that  the  ^:::^^^^  ^  7^"^'^''  ^^^^^'^^^^-^r.c.^n.s,  .i-tles,  ^^ 
.re  was  formed  in  the  same  Zoological  period  as  den  .  "kT"-  '  "'  ''""  ""^^  ^^^  ^-^  -  -d- 
th.s  Mountain.  So  also  in  Bavari!  are  ma  !  j"!  ^  and^'^T  ^"'"^"'"^  '^^^^  ''^  -^'-^  - 
oustrtne  depositws,  and  on  the  Rhine  you  may' fid  "  '  B.'  wh  '"'^  "'""  "'  '"^^  ""^'  ""^  -»-^'» 
the  same  quadrupeds  associated  with  fresh  iT         "  ^""  P*"  '"  '^"""^  Dor  and  observe 

shells.     Thus   extending  you,    observli:   TC    itT:::::^ 

ane  part  of  Europe  to  another,  y.u  can  vuJrt.     U  '  '    "^  '""   '"''  ''"^  ^'■^"  ^  Period  must 

in  the  second  period  there  we;.'vo,croes  1  ,  '"•'"''"'   '^'"^''"  '»'''  !'--"»  -cl  ^ho  Eo 

«aHne  d....„„      .....    .    .  .  r....^.  I  ^ -- ^'^  for         Hor  race  of  quadrup^^s 


mar.nedepo.tes.  Thus  is  it  on  the  borders  of 2 
Lmre  between  Tours  and  Mount  Dor;  and  four- 
fifths  of  the  shells  found  there  are  of  now  e.tin't 
.peces-while  the  other  fifth  are  still  living.'  This 
Juried  IS  caned  Miocene-as  containing  a  Lnori! 
ty  of  shells  of  existing  species. 

all  through  the  L.ted  States.     Li  my  tour  to  the 

So.th  I  found  ;n  Virginia  formations  belonging  to 

he  first  or  Eocene  period.     [The   whole  grou',  is 

ff  Tertiary,  to  distinguish  it  fron,  the  Second- 

that tT'n'-      ^  '■""'  '"'"'^  «"SS-»''^   'o  -c 
hat  he  could  never  remember  the  order  of  the  dif 

until  he  observed  that  it  was  the  natural  order  of 
the,r  ,n.t,als  E.  M.  and  P.  in  the  alphabet.    The.e  I 


-he  mastodon.  hippopot:;;srh-:^rr: 

nmmalsto  supplant  the   more   ancien,      Butyo, 

may  ask  might  not  tkis  at  least  have  been  the  fa" 

are  there.       lbe„  f^Uosy  on  and  find  where  o«J- 
dnnly  they  are  cut  off  and  again  res„med-a  vist 
I-ed  of  pumice,  and  trachyte  and  basalt  correspond 
.  n.  to  a  similar  one  on    the  other  side  of  thr:^- 

-^.reatvaicr-:::-::--:- 

rr  .ret  and  the  flowing  ou.  of  a  stream  of  La 

^"  ''  "T'"]'  ''f  "'-  -  -t'-q-nt  erosion  of  I 
ravines  by  tho  lava.    Rvthis  timn  .T  . 

losupher.  vou  will  ..ve  ac  "=  'T'      '"'  "'''  '^  P'"'" 
1."       ."  "'^'l" 'Cd  morocuution   ntwJ 

w.n  not  hastily  assort  that  the  Miocene  perio:;';:' 


11 


the  last ;  you  will  say  rather  that  on  extending  the 
sphere  of  your  researches  you  were  obliged  to 
abandon  your  first  opinions,  and  so  if  you  stillfor- 
ther  enlarge  the  field  of  observation  to  other  parts 
of  Europe,  you  would  see  that  there  was  another 
strata  between  the  Miocene  and  our  own — and 
such  is  the  cage. 

When  you  have  entered  Italy  and  followed  the 
Appenines  from  the  Po  to  Calabria  you  find  a  low 
range  of  hills  called  by  Brocchi,  an  Italian  Geolo- 
gist, the  Sub-Appenlnes,  consisting  of  strata  of  a 
date  posterior  to  t  he  Miocene.      These  wo  cal'  'le 
Pliocene — which  are  divided   into  the  Older  and 
Newer  Pliocene.     I  shall  not  dwell  upon  the  first 
but  allude  to  the  Newer  Pliocene,  or  more  modern 
part  of  the  group.      In  the  South-Eastern  part  of 
Sicily  we  have  am  example  of  maiine  formations 
ef  the  N(!wer  I'liocenc.     There  are  rocks  of  ma- 
rine origin  in  which  you  would  at  first  say  that  all 
the  shells  were  the  same  as  those  that  now  people 
tho  waters   of  the  Mediterranean ;  and  yet  when 
you  coma  to  a  more  sareful  examination  you  will 
find  that  »no-tenth  are  of  a  species  never  seen  in 
that  sea.      These  rock*  ara  sometimes  2000  feet 
thick,    and  it  would  bo  easy,  if  I  had  time  to  de- 
scribe them  minutcily,  to  show  that  they  had  been 
accumulated  in  the  same  slow  and  gradual  manner 
as  the  freshwater  strata  of  Auvergne  were  elabor- 
ated by  the  deposition  of  one  layer  after  another, 
with  this  difference,  that  in  the  former  the  organic 
remainB  are  marine,  and  in  the  latter  they  are  those 
-of  lakes,  and  therefore  a  fresh  water  species.     An- 
other difference  is  tliat  volcanic  rocks  are  distribu- 
ted   nearly   through   the  whole  thickness   of  the 
formation  in  the  South  of  Sicily.     Near  Syracuse 
also  you  may  see  a  strata  2000  feet  thick,  altern- 
ately of  volcanic  and  marine  orig>n  ;  at  the  bottom 
is  a  bed    several  hundred  feet  thick  of  volcanic 
ashes,  then  a  bod  of  limestone,  on  which  rests  the 
great  sht;et  of  lava.      In  one  of  these   strata   at 
Vincenza  an  observer   found  a  bed  of  oysters  20 
feet  thick.      There  had  been  time   for  this  oyster 
bed  to  accuiiiulate — for  Serpulae  and  other  para- 
sitic animals  to  attach  to  them  until  the  bed  grew 
20  feet  thick ;  and   then  a   stream  of  lava  rolled 
over  it.     These   facts   show  how  gradually  those 
strata  were  formed.     Another  remarkable  circum- 
•tance  is  that  these  rocks  rise  2000  and  in  Castro- 
giov&nni,  in  Sicily,  3000   feet  ahove  the  level  of 
the  sea.      Tlipso  have  all  been  formed  since  the 
newer  series  of  strati*  were  deposited.      Volcanic 
matter  often  riaea  in  the  sea,  overflows  the  bottom 
and  forms  a  temporary  island,  as  Graham's  island 
WQS  formed  five  years  ago.      The  wavoR  3o«n  de- 


stroy it,  spreading  th«  irdmio  matter  over  tho 
bottom  of  the  ocean.  All  this  takes  place  before 
there  is  any  upheaval.  Here,  too,  we  have  proafs 
of  what  an  extended  ccries  of  groups  in  the  chro- 
nological table  is  to  be  formed  subsequent  to  the 
Miocene  period — the  date  of  that  volcano,  before 
you  thiak  you  have  come  to  the  end  of  the  series 
of  modern  even^j — those  which  are  considered  as 
belonging  to  modern  history. 

My  priiic?pal  object  in  the  present  lecture  is  to 
convince  you  how  far  from  the  end  of  the  series 
these  rocks  were  formed,  although  they  have  a  re- 
siiectable  claim  to  antiquity.  When  we  examine 
Jltna,  and  the  strata  on  which  it  rests,  we  shall 
see  another  period,  called  the  Post-Pliocene  pe- 
riod, as  being  subsequent  to  the  Pliocene.  In  this 
all  the  shells  are  of  the  existing  species.  Its  for- 
mation has  been  sufficiently  protracted  to  admit 
the  elaboration  of  this  vast  series  of  volcanic  move- 
ments. The  locality  which  I  will  select  this  eve- 
ning ia  Mount  ^tna — for  that  volcano  rests  on 
strata  in  which  all  the  shells  and  corals  appear  to 
be  identical  with  those  now  found  in  the  neighbor- 
ing seas. 

The  night  of  ^Etna  is  nearly  11,000  feet.  It 
was  well  described  by  the  andenta.  It  is  divided 
into  three  distinct  zones,  called  the  fertile,  the 
woody,  and  the  desert  regions.  The  lowest,  the 
fertile,  is  a  most  beautiful  territory,  embracing  the 
delightful  country  around  the  skirts  of  the  moun- 
tain. It  is  well  cultivated,  covered  with  groves, 
olives,  wines,  corn,  lomen  and  other  fruit  trees, 
and  is  densely  inhabited.  When  you  pass  above 
this,  (and  its  extent  may  be  judged  when  I  say  that 
the  base  of  tlie  mountain  is  ninety  miles  in  circum- 
ference,) you  come  to  the  woody  region,  a  thick 
forest  of  chestnut,  oak,  and  pine  trees  growing 
upon  lavas  of  different  dates :  and  as  you  go  higher 
you  occasionally  find  groves  of  oak  and  beech.— 
This  region  is  rendered  extremely  beautiful  by  the 
great  number  of  minor  eones,  or  small  volcanoes 
like  the  Puy  de  Tartaret,  which  have  broken  out 
at  different  periods  on  one  side  of  the  mountain. 
Same  of  these  are  four  or  five  hundred  feet  high, 
and  one  of  them,  Monte  Minardo,  is  seven  thou 
sand  feet  high.  There  are  few  objects  in  Nature 
more  beautiful  than  this  multitude  of  minor  cones 
that  have  broken  out  and  covered  the  trees  of  this 
woody  region.  This  zone  is  two,  five  and  in  some 
places  six  miles  wider  and  when  at  its  upper  lim- 
its you  are  about  five  thousand  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  sea.  From  the  upper  confines  of  this  forest 
region,  in  1828,  I  took  a  sketch  of  the  scene 
above  us.     We  climbed  up  upon  the  eastern  side. 


'"I 


St 

tr 
h 

a 


I 

) 
1 

r 
f 
k 


12 


i 

t 

c 
a 
ll 
it 
u 
d 


But  from  that  point  we  have  still  six  thoiwanrl  fof>»    ™i:«r  _i.i    .t.         • 
.      ..      .       '         .     ,         »«•'"  SIX  mousana  tpot    relief,  whilo  the  rocks  around  arc  wasted  awav  hw 
elevation  between  the  hiffhest  noint  anA  i>,«  f...,.     th :a   r.„_.: ,  ..       .  T"^  ^^^^  "^ 


elevation  between  the  highest  point  and  the  fo/e- 
ground  of  this  picture.  The  mountain  is  general- 
ly symmetrical,  in  the  form  of  a  flat  cone,  broken 
down  upon  the  eastern  side  by  a  deep  chasm  call- 
ed the  Valdel  Bove,  as  may  be  seen  in  this  figure. 


p— Montagfnuola. 

c— head  oi  Val  del  Bove. 

rand  ^— Inleral  cones. 


After  entering  upon  the  woody  region,  and  riseing 
about  one  thousand  feec  from  the  base,  you  reach  a 
great  precipice  two  or  three  thousand  feet  high  ; 
then  comes  a  plain  covered  deeply  with  snow,  and 
lastly  the  cone,  eleven  thousand  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  soa,  from  which  steam  or  aqueous  va- 
por is  constantly  emitted.  When  these  views 
were  taken,  which  was  in  October,  there  was  lei, 

SHOW  upon  the  mountain  than  at  a      oZ"  i^^  I  Zl^  "  T''  "'  '"l"""'"^^  ^"  ^  ^'^""'"  ^°'"^' 
of  the  year.     One  eruption  from  the  suLi    oc      2.      I  uT  "P'''^^"'  '"  ''''  '''''''>  ^"''"^ 

curs  for  every  two  of  the  cones  nn  !v,     fl  '"  ""^  directions.     Both  these  may  be  in 

When  one  o;^hese::^:r:::t^irt-  :r':^:!-'  -'' ------  '^  -ow 


the  rapid  freezing  and  thawing  to  which   this  re- 
gion  is  exposed.    There  was  an  opportunity  during 
the  eruption  of  1669   of  observing  the  manner  in 
which  thego  dikes  are  produced.     The  mountain 
was   ront  asunder  l)y  fissures  radiating  from  the 
centre— though  some  of  them  were  parallel.   These 
emitted  a  vivid  light,  showing  the  incandescent 
lava  at  a  great  depth  below.     The  lava  flows  some, 
times  nine  or  ten  miles  down  the  split  mountain, 
and  when  it  is  cooled  and  crystalized  it  formi*  one 
of  these  vertical  dikes.     Similar  dikes  are  formed 
in  Madeim,  where  basalt  has  bscn  traversed  by  vol- 
canic rocks. 

It  is  supposed  that  as  often  as  Mount  yf^tna  is 
rent  open,  there  may  bo  a  slight  upheaval  of  the 
whole   mass-nn   uplifting   bodily  of  the  whole 
mountain:  and   if  we  suppose  that  this  has  hap. 
pened  from  the  earliest  periods,  it  may  explain  the 
great  difficulty  which  has  puzzled  some  geologisu 
in  endeavoring  to  explain  why  the  more   ancient 
part  of  the  mountain  has  not  been  covered  by  pos- 
terior eruptions.     It  has  been  objected,    that  if 
the  whole  mountain  was  formed  (as  I  believe  it 
was)    by  successive    eruptions,    that    the    ancient 
parts  of  the  volcano  ought  to  have  been  buried 
long  ago  by  the  more  modern  eruptions.     I  ought 
perhaps  to  have  remarked,  that  there  is  a  general 
dip   of  the  beds  in  all  directions,  which  thjre  ara 
two  ways  of  endeavoring  to  explain.     One  attrib- 
utes  it  to  sheets  of  lava  flowing  to  a  certain  point; 


When  one  of  these  happens  the  melted  lava  pours 
out  over  the  snews,  which  are  suddenly  melted, 
and  rush  down  the  mountain,  producing  sometimes 
floods  which  sweep  down  the  flanks  and  across  the 
valleys.  Except  when  floods  thus  occur,  there  is  a 
smgular  absence  of  running  water  on  the  flanks  of 
tlie  mountain.     The  silence  which  pervades  on  this 


zr:r-:r:ff— t^.i?"£-^ 


from  the  rocks,  Hor  is  there  any  movement  of  run 
ning  water  as  in  most  mountainous  countri-s.  Not 
a  rill  runs  down  the  sides.  All  the  rain  that  falls 
trom  the  heavens,  and  all  the  water  from  the  melt- 
ing snow  is  instantly  absorbed  by  the  porous  lava. 
There  arp  numerous  vertical  dikes  which  tra- 
verse the  mountain  and  sometimes  extend  for  more 
than  a  thousand  feet  in  a  perpendicular.  They 
consist  of  liquid  matter  emitted  by  fissures,  which 
aa  It  rises  is  consolidated,  mixed  with  tuff's  and 
•cona,.  and  thm   becoming  harder  than  the  cliiTs 


why  the  most  ancient  parts  of  the  mountain  would 
not  be  covered  by  the  overflowing  lava. 

We  know  that  there  has  been  an  upheaval  of  the 
whole  mass  of  .l^tna  at  no  very  remote  period ; 
because  the  mountain  rests  on  a  marine  stratum 
which  contains  shells  identical  with  those  now 
living  in  the  Mediterranean.     A  force  which  could 


ot  the  raountain  must  have  been  able  to  caiTy  up 
the  whole  mountain;  and  if  the  lavas  did  not 
cover,  at  each  successive  eruption,  more  and  moro' 
of  this  marine  strata,  we  should  be  abk'  to  trace  it 
to  a  greater  hight  up  the  mountain.  As  it  is,  wo 
find  it  about  1000  feet  above  the  level.  If  tl,o'  an 
cient  part  of  the  mountain  has  been  thrown  up  in 
this  way,  we  readily  find  the  explanation  of  the 
phenomena  we  arc  seeking.  First,  let  me  state 
that  all  geologists  admit  that  the  formations  of  «1. 
ternato  lava    and  scoria;    of  which  the   mass    of 


-.»a,„.,..a_,„.u,:„„,-^™-i— \':irj:v^^^^^^^^^^^ 


asted  away  by 
vhich   this  re- 
rtuniiy  during 
he  manner  in 
rhe  mountain 
ing  frotii  the 
rallcl.   These 
incandescent 
a  flows  some- 
ilit  mountain, 
it  formi*  one 
3  are  formed 
t^ersedby  vol- 

junt  Mtna  is 
eaval  of  the 
f  the   whole 
lis  has  hap- 
!  explain  the 
le  geologisu 
ore   ancient 
Bred  by  pos- 
ed,   that   if 
I  believe  it 
the    ancient 
jeen  buried 
B.     I  ought 
3  a  general 
h  tlure  ara 
One  attrib- 
rtain  point ; 
itre,  tilting 
may  be  in 
or  to  show 
itain  would 

laval  of  the 
to  period ; 
le  stratum 
those  now 
hich  could 

the  sides 
)  caiTy  up 
'  did  not 
and  moro 
to  trace  it 
8  it  is,  wo 
If  the  an. 
nvn  up  in 
'n  of  the 
me  state 
ons  of  at. 

mass    of 

origin— 


13 


tliat  it  is  formed  above  the  water ;  for  it  contains 
no  marine  shells — no  beds  of  tuff— no  stratified 
n,as9— no  fossils ;  but  has  every  indication  of  be- 
ing a  volcano  found  m  the  open  air.  At  lirst,  the 
volcano  may  have  been  of  moderate  hight — accu- 
mulating one  bed  upon  another  until  it  reached  a 
height  of  4  or  5000  feet.  Then  as  it  grew  higher 
on  eiuption  would  take  place,  as  it  does  now, 
chiefly  on  the  flanks.  I  told  you  that  an  eruption 
generally  occurs  on  the  summit  for  every  two  on 
llio  sides  :  that  is  the  proportion  that  has  been  ob- 
served during  the  historical  period.  The  higher 
the  mountain  becomes,  the  greater,  evidently,  is 
the  hydrostatic  pressure  of  the  column  of  lava 
that  rises  up  :  the  higher  the  chimneys  the  greater 
die  pressure  of  the  lava  rising  within  them  upon 
the  flanks.  In  this  way  the  lava  might  continue 
to  rise  until  at  last,  if  it  became  more  than  two 
miles  high,  the  pressure  would  have  become  so 
enormous  as  to  burst  through  the  flank  of  the 
mountain.  Every  geologist  will  admit  that  in  a 
volcano  such  an  outbreak  may  take  place.  At 
first,  before  this  the  accumulatioH  went  on  by 
eruptions  from  the  summit ;  but  these  eruptions 
being  afterward  performed  on  the  flanks  about  the 
woody  region,  the  older  part  of  the  volcano  was 
not  buried. 

Before  I  go  farther,  there  is  one  point  of  grea_ 
interest  which  I  will  noticu  :  ^tna  is  of  all  volca 
noes  that  of  which  we  have  the  most  ancient  rec" 
cords,  and  to  a  knowledge  of  which  history  and 
tradition  carry  us  the  farthest  back.  There  is  a 
tradition  mentioned  by  Diodcrus  Sicblus,  that 
an  eruption  happened  before  the  Trojan  war» 
which  compelled  the  Sicani  to  desert  their  dis- 
trict. Thucydides  tells  us  that  in  the  sixth  year 
before  the  Peloponnesian  war,  or  in  435  B.C.,  an 
eruption  occurred  which  was  the  third  that  had 
taken  place  there  since  the  colonization  of  Sicily 
by  the  Greeks,  (a)  The  second  of  those  three  erup- 
tions was  the  one  mentioned  in  that  beautiful  ode 
of  Pindar,  which  is  worth  referring  to  because 
it  is  the  description  by  a  poet  which  corresponds 
precisely  with  the  appearance  of  the  volcano 
twenty  centuries  afierwaid  when  Catanipi  was  de- 
etroyed  in  1669.  Part  of  the  city  had  been  over- 
flowed during  the  eruption,  alluded  to  by  Pindar^ 
as  having  occurred  in  the  year  475  B.  C.  In  that 
passage  Pindar  speaks  of  "the  snowy  JEtna,  the 
pillar  of  Heaven — the  nurse  of  everlasting  frost 
in  whose  deep  caverns  lie  concealed  the  fountains 
of  unapproachable  Jire—a  stream  of  tddying 
$moke  hy  day — a  bright  and  ruddy  flame  by 
'la)lrT«iyfi(iIde7,"BooiriuTSec7lia 


night :  and  burning  roeks  rolled  down  with  loud 


uproar  into  th' 

We  ha.e  sti 
day  produced 
appearance  w 
Mr.  Scropo  8a\ 


"(6) 

'  stream  of  eddying  smoke'  by 
1  eruption.  It  tiad  the  same 
^aw  it  in  1828,  and  also  when 
stream  nine  months  after  it 
began  to  flow  in  lUlQ.  He  says  that  it  was  then 
moving;  on  at  the  rate  of  one  yard  in  an  hour: 
during  the  day  it  constantly  emitted  a  dense  va- 
por: for  aqueous  vapor  enters  minutely  into  this 
lava,  though  no  ci.emist  has  yet  fully  explained  it. 
As  often  as  the  stream  cracks,  it  emits  several 
gases,  but  chiefly  steam,  which  boiling  up  brings 
the  lava  to  the  surface,  and  causes  it  to  overflow 
the  crater  just  as  steam  in  a  kettle  carries  up  the 
water,  and  causes  it  to  spill  over.  So  this  steam 
and  all  the  gases  become  entangled  with  the  red 
hot  lava,  causing  it  to  discharge  large  quantities 
of  aqueous  vapor  during  the  whole  process  of  con- 
glomeration. By  night  we  saw  the  same  cracks 
emitting  a  glowing  heat,  and  the  whole  stream 
makes  out  the  '  bright  and  ruddy  flame.' 

It  is  a  singular  circumstance,  in  regard  to  the 
theory  of  flowing  lava,  that,  instead  of  being  level, 
as  you  would  naturally  expect  of  a  liquid,  there 
are  hilUcks  of  considerable  hight  along  its  sur- 
face, in  consequence  of  the  uneven  ground  over 
which  it  flows.  Another  peculiarity  of  these 
streams  is  the  fact  of  their  becoming  hard  and 
solid  while  in  motion.  Instead  of  tliinning  out, 
as  would  be  natural,  at  the  edges,  the  upper  sur- 
face becomes  cool,  and  the  sides  likewise,  and 
both  grow  hard ;  so  that  the  edges  are  often 
rocky  walls,  inclined  at  angles  of  from  30  to  40 
degrees.  It  is  thus  a  flood  of  red  hot  lava  flowing 
along  a  solid  tube.  Thus,  when  they  come  to  a 
rise  of  ground,  the  streams  rise  as  water  does  in  a 
pipe — as  has  been  the  case  in  the  Val  del  Bove. 
When  the  stream  comes  to  a  hill,  it  goes  up  the 
slant  in  a  tube  of  its  own  making,  and  thus,  too,  it 
goes  up  the  sides  of  solid  walls.  In  1669,  when 
Catania  was  threatened  with  destruction  by  the 
approaching  stream,  a  respectable  citizen  |of  the 
town,  desiring  to  secure  the  city,  took  a  troop  of 

(6)  This  passage  may  be  found  in  the  Ut  Pythian  Ode  of 

Pindar,  beginnin;; 

"X-pvaea  0op/iiyf  AiroXXo)- 

vo{  xai  tonXaKajibiv 
^vvSiKov  Mojo-av  Kreavov,  le.  r.  X. 
The  description  of  jEtna,  the  whole  of  which  is  extremely 
beautiful,  commences  with  the  concluding  lines  of  Dec  V. 

A  'ovpavia  miiexti 
Nt^OECiT  Asri-a,  TravcrcS 
Xioyor  o(eta<p  ri^nva, 
and  i:.  i:ou;iiiued  through  the  seven  succeeding  verse*. 


ml 
o>l 

H 
f 

^ 

A- 1 

H 

P» 

A' 


*  L 


>\ 


■•.*;ja»«.t#»i«*w«. 


some  fifty  men,  «)m>,  ebtlied  with  skini  to  protect 
thnm  from  the  heatt  aoil  armed  with  iron  crows 
and  pick-axes,  began  to  quarry  the  solid  wall^  and 
let  out  the  lava.     They  opened  it  at  the  village  of 
Belpasso,   and  the    stream    immediately   issued 
forth,  and  took  the  direction  of  Paterno.    But  the 
inhabitants  of  that  toWn,  being  alarmed  for  th« 
safety  of  their  own  village ,  took  up  arms  and  pre- 
vented farther  operations.    The  torrent,  therefore, 
moved  on  to  Catania,  and  the  inhabitants  of  that 
city,  being  terrified  for  their  safety,  turned  out  and 
threw  up  a  rampart  of  stones,  hewn  from  the  lava, 
sixty  feet  high.     On  went  the  burning  torrent,  and 
wlien  it  arrived  at  the  wall,  it  continued  to  accu- 
mulate upon  itself  until  it  topped  the  wall,  curled 
over,  and  fell  in  a  fiery  cascade  upon  the  town  ;  it 
passed  on  to  the  Mediterranean,  which  it  entered 
with   a  loud  explosion.     This   corresponds   pre- 
cisely with  the  description  sf  Pindar.    The  Prince 
of  Biscari  afterwards,  at  great  expense,  made  a 
quarrying  out  of  the  lava,  so  as  to  show  the  man- 
ner of  its  falling  over ;    and  you  may  now   see 
the  upright  wall,  with  the  stream  of  lava  curling 
over  the  top — appearing  like  a  petrified  cascade 
of  lavn,  anrf  remaining  visible  t*  ♦V-is  day.     This 
drawing  will   give  you  some  idea  of  the  view  of 
JEtna,  and    the   iitnation  of   various    localities 
near  it: — 


14 


a— highest  cone, 
fr— Monta^uola. 
c— marine  fomiation— rarely  found  alwve  the  dotted  line 

A  t. 

y— escarpment  of  volcanic  tuff,  &c.  N.  W.  of  Catania. 
*— town  of  Catania, 
ir— plain  of  (>atania. 

/—limestone  platform  of  the  newer  Pliorcne,  from  wiiich 
the  vjew  is  supposed  to  be  taken. 
»n— La  Motta  di  Catania. 

From  these  facts  you  may  get  some  idea  of  the 
slow  manner  in  which  the  lava  current  goes  on,  at 
the  rate  of  a  yard  an  hour  for  days,  months,  and 
sometimes  for  years. 

It  is  very  generally  conceded  that  the  origin  of 
the  chasm  wn  the  side  of  the  cone — the  Val  dei 


Bove— was  in  the  subsidence  ^[of  the  ground  for 
some  3000  feet.     We  have  an  example  at  no  very 
remote  period  when  the  Dutch  possessed  the  Isl- 
and of  Java,  of  a  similar  sinking  down  in  the  vol- 
cano Papanda-ang— but  a  little  before  the  com- 
moncement  of  the  nineteenth  century.     A  space 
of  ground  some  fifteen  miles  long  and  six  or  seven 
wide  gave  way  during  an  earthquake,  and  buried 
forty  villages ;  and  one  part  of  the  volcano  fell  in 
after  another,   until  Papandayang  lost  4000  of  its 
hight.     The  mass  engulphed  was  larger  than  wo 
need  suppose   was  swallowed  in  order  to  produce 
the  Val  del  Bove  on  the  East  side  of  Mtna.  There 
are  two  mountains  mentioned  by  Pliny,  and  since 
his  time  the  chasm  between  them  has  been  nearly 
filled  by  the  deluges  of  lava. 

The  composition  of  all  the  lavas  of  ^tna,  from 
the    oldest  to    the    most   inodern,  is  singularly 
homogeneous.     That  of  the  modern   eruptions  of 
1811  and  1819,  when  analyzed  was  found   to  con- 
sist of  the  dark  mineral  augite,  and  of  a  kind  of 
feldspa,   catted  Labradorite.     It   has  largo  quan- 
tities of  iron,  some  of  which  is  titanifcrous      The 
ntost   ancient  lavas  of  which  thousnnds  of  sheets 
are  found,   consist  of  nearly  the  same  materials. 
At  those  points  where  we  can  see  farthest  into  the 
internal  structure  of  the  Mountain,  we  find  that  it 
is  constituted  oi   successive  beds  of  lava  and  sco- 
riae— with  large  quantities  of  augite  and  feldspar, 
which  have  a  granitic  structure.   As  we  go  farther 
down. we  find  masses  of  rock,  which  are  still  more 
granitiferous :  they  are  not  divided  into  strata,  nor 
do  they  agree   with  the  volcanic  rocks  ;  we  thus 
reach  the  Plutonic  rocks,  and  I  must  endeavor  to 
make  you  familiar  with  the  technical  term.     Vol- 
canic rocks  are  frequently  porous,  because  they  are 
found  near  the  surface,  and  the  discharge  of  their 
cases  causes  pores  in  them,  as  in  the  slag  of  iron 
furnaces.     When  they  exist  in  a  strata  of  consid- 
erable depth,  the  pores  diminish  and  the  rocks  be- 
come stronger,  and  begin  to  crystalize,  until  we 
reach  the  bottom,  when  they  have  no  pores.  Crys- 
talization   has  taken  place  under  a  pressure,  and 
they  have  slowly  cooled.     The  Plutonic  locks  con- 
sist of  certain  porphyries,  and  have  silex  and  alu- 
mine,  but  never  scoria  or  volcanic  sand  or  pebbles, 
nor  are  any  signs  of  these  found  near  the  surface. 
As,  therefore,  Volcanoos  had  been  thus  named,  be- 
cause Vulcan  had   his   fo.-ge   under  ^tna,  so  it 
was    natural   that  those   rocks  should   be   "p'^^d 
Plutonic,  as  being  found   in  the  realm  of  Pluto, 
where  flowed  thePhlegethon — rivor  of  fire — and  the 
Letho  rolled  its  watery  labyrinth,  which   may  be 
mythical  of  the  Lethean  influence  exerted  by  these 


WfK 


I 


---wm^' 


'  j^^wl 


I 


I 


if. 


15 


rocks — for  we  find  that  who*  these  granitic  masMs 
come  in  contact  with  a  fossiliforoHS  strata,  they 
destroy  every  trace  of  organic  remains.  If  we 
suppose  all  the  different  strata  to  come  in  contact 
with  those,  wo  shall  find  that  we  can  trace  the  pas- 
sage from  those  of  the  rao9t  fosailiferoiM  state  to 
that  when  fossils  are  rare,  at  last  come  to  a  pure 
crystal  rock,  such  as  is  sought  by  iha  Sculptor. — 
The  Carrara  marble  is  an  example  of  this  kind. — 
Formerly  this  was  called  a  primitive  rock — one  of 
the  oldest.  Now  it  is  known  not  to  bo  of  high  an- 
tiquity,but  to  have  been  converted  from  fossiliferous 
rock  by  contact  with  granite,  which  has  deprived 
it  of  all  its  corals.  Its  nodules  of  flint  have  been 
fused,  and  occasionally  will  be  found  crystals  of 
augite,  against  which  the  Sculptor  sometimes  breaks 
the  edge  of  his  chisel.  I  give  this  as  an  illmtra- 
tion  with  which  you  are  all  acquainted ;  it  is  o«ly 
one  of  a  thousand  I  might  mention.  Thus  you  see 
that  rocks  which  are  fossiliferous,  when  far  from 
Plutonii;  rocks,  may  become  non-fo88ilifer»us 
when  placed  for  ages  in  their  vicinity. 

It  wan  formerly  a  great  puzzle  for  chemists  to 
account  for  the  manner  in  which  heat  pervaded  the 
rocks,  because  they  are  bad  conductors.  But  they 
should  recollect  that  in  the  interior  of  the  Earth 
we  have  to  deal  not  only  with  masses  of  melted 
matter,  but  with  steam.  Volcanoes,  besides  mine- 
ral matter,  discharge  various  gases — but  nine- 
lenths  of  their  matter  is  wR.ter.  This  steam,  be- 
fore it  found  vent,  minglad  intimately  with  the 
pores  of  the  lava,  and  forced  the  sides  to  disen- 
gage. Any  rock,  no  matter  how  solid  and  compact, 
when  put  in  centact  with  an  immense  reservoir  of 
this  would  become  porous  and  upongy,  under  so 
enormous  a  pressure.  This  may  be  seen  at  Corinth, 
in  the  Lipari  Islands,  in  Greece,  and  other  places. 
Tliis  hypothesis  must  not  be  combated,  then,  by  ob- 
jections founded  upon  the  results  of  subjecting 
rocks  to  the  heat  of  our  furnaces ;  for  they  exist 
under  altogether  differ«nt  conditions  in  the  interior 
of  the  Earth. 


I  may  state,  that,  aa  these  remarks  relate  to  th* 

moi    difficult  theeries  of  geology,  it  ii  not  to  be 

expected  that  you  should  at  once  follow  them.  As 

I  omitted  it  at  the  last  lecture,  I   will  say  a  few 
words  of  the  origin  of  granite  rocks.     The  true 

unstratified  granite  is  generally  believed  te  be  of 

igneous  origin,  formed  by  that  part  of  the  volcanic 

phenomenon  which  is  far  below  where  the  eruption 

takes  place.     In  Mount  Dar,  they  are  believed  to 

be  below  the  Miocene,   and  in   ^tna,   below  the 

Post  Pliocene;  and  so  of  all  antecedent  periods. 

It  is  impossible,  though  we  know  nsore  of  the 
history  of  ^tna  than  of  any  other  volcano,  to  form 
even  an  approximate  estimate  of  the  number  of 
years  required  for  the  accumulation  of  such  a  mass 
of  volcanic  matter.  There  is  no  reason  to  suppose 
that  the  ancient  eruptions  were  more  violent  than 
the  modern.  The  sheets  of  lava  separated  by 
bods  of  scorisB  and  breccia,  in  the  ancient  part  of 
the  volcano,  do  not  appear  to  be  of  any  greater 
thickness  than  those  of  the  modern.  There  is 
one  method  of  attempting  the  computation  of  the 
more  recent  part  of  the  mountain — to  consider 
the  minor  cones  which  adorn  its  flank.  Of  these 
there  are  eighty  ef  the  first  magnitude.  We  can- 
not, from  what  we  know  of  these,  suppose  that 
more  than  ose-fourth  of  them  were  produced  since 
the  earliest  periods  mentioned  by  Diodorus  Sicu- 
lus  and  Thucydides.  There  may  have  been  more 
activity,  or  less  violent  convulsions;  but  if  we 
suppose  that,  in  12,000  years  all  these  eighty 
cones  were  produced  ;  and  if  we  strip  them  all 
off,  we  shall  still  have  the  great  colossal  mass  of 
iEtna  remaining  behind.  It  would  still  be  one  of 
of  the  loftiest  mountains  in  Sicily.  It  is  evident, 
at  all  events,  that,  between  the  formation  of  the 
latest  period  of  the  Puy  de  Tartaret  and  the  oldest 
of  ^tna,  the  whole  of  the  older  and  newer  Plio- 
cene periods  must  have  intervened. 

In  my  next  lecture  I  will  endeavor  to  explain, 
from  the  remains  of  the  temple  of  Serapis,  some 
of  the  proofs  of  the  upheaval  of  the  earth. 


d 

4 

>l 
I 


I 


LECTURE    III 


UPHEAVAL  AND  SUBSIDENCE  OF  THE  EARTH. 


Ladies  and  Oentlemen :  I  havo  had  occasion, 
in  both  my  provioua  Lectures,  to  allude  to  the  fact 
that  various  marine  fossils— the  fossil  remains  of 
animals  that  once  lived  in  the  ocean — have  been 
found  entombed  in  the  rocks  of  various  districts  ; 
not  that  we  find  these  remains  of  marine  creatures 
•trewed  over  the  surface  of  the  Earth  merely,  as  if 
the  Sea  had  once  overflowed  the  land ;  but  we  find 
them  imbedded  in  the  midst  of  mountains,  at  all 
depths   below  the  surface,  and  entering  int«   the 
composition  of  the  mountain  masses  themselves, 
mBl.:ing   up  their   very   materials,  sometimes  frr 
two  or  three  miles  thick,  all  having  been  gradu- 
ally  elaborated  under  the  water  ;  thus  furnishing  the 
most  indisputable  proof  that  what  is  now  dry  land 
was  once  for  ages  under  the  water  and  formed  the 
bed  of  the  sea.     Here  the  geologist  finds  himself 
reduced  to  the  alternative  of  supposing  either  that 
the  ocean  was  oHce  higher  than  it  now  is,  and  that 
it  has  been  lowered  ;  or   that   the  land,  the  solid 
laud  itself,  has  been  raised  ap.     The  earlier  geolo- 
gists preferred  the  notion  of  a  sinking,  a  general 
sinking,  of  the  sea;  for  the  ocean  cannot  be  low- 
ered ia  one  place   without  a  general  subsidence 
throughout  its  whole  extent.     But  when  the  struc- 
ture of  the   Earth  came  to   be   mnre  attentively 
studied  and  more  thoroughly  examined,  geologists 
gradually  came   round  to   the   opposite  opinion, 
namely,  that  the  land  had  been  elevated ;  and  this 
opinion  was   embrace*  for   several  reasons,    but 
principally  because  it  would  account  for  all  the 
observed   phenomena,  explain  all   the   periods  of 
stratification — those  in   which  the  strata  are  dis- 
turbed and  fractured  as  well  as  those  in  which  they 
are  horizontal.     For  if  they  were  all  upon  a  level, 
then  the  going  down  of  the  sea  might  explain  their 
appearance ;  but  as  we  find  them  curved,  bent  and 
fractured,  the  other  theory  is  the  only  one  which 
will  explain  both  appearances. 

Another  reason  for  embracing  the  hypothesis  of 
an  upheaval  of  the  Earth  is  this— that  we  find     u 

the  crust  of  the  Earth  fresh  water   formations 

(yffu  are  now  familiar  with  this  term)— beds  formed 
in  lakes  and  estuaries,  lying  beneath  the  deposites 
which  are  evidemly  of  marine  origin.  For  exam- 
ple, in  some  parts  of  Europe  you  find  the  white 
ehalk — a  marine,  calcareous  matter,  produced  be- 


neath the  soa  mainly  by  the  decomposition  of 
shells;  beneath  that  you  find  another  stratum,  evi- 
dently of  fresh  water  origin.  Now  to  explain  how 
a  marine  stratum  1,500  feet  thick  could  have  been 
thus  deposited  upon  a  fresh  water  formation,  by 
the  theory  of  the  rising  and  the  lowering  of  the 
ocean,  you  would  have  to  make  the  ocean  first  re- 
treat, in  order  that  there  might  be  dry  land  ;  then 
rise  again  to  deposite  the  mass  of  corals  and  shells 
which  are  found ;  then  retire  and  again  go  down 
to  explain  the  present  dry  land  which  now  exists 
in  that  part  of  the  Eaith  where  this  calcareous  mat- 
ter is  found.  You  would  uave  a  vast  number  of 
successive  retirals  upon  that  hypothesis ;  and  the 
ocean  must  rise  several  miles  and  stand  there  for 
ages  to  form  the  marine  rocks  of  the  Himmolaya 
and  other  mountain  chains. 

But  besiios  that  this  theory  of  the  movement  of 
the  land  explains  all  these  geological  phenomena, 
we  have  the  experience  of  history,  which  teaches 
that  the  solid  land,  through  extended  districts, 
does  sink  down  in  some  places  and  rise  slojvly  in 
others  ;  whereas  there  is  no  instance  on  record  of 
a  general  lowering  of  the  whole  ocean — there  has 
been  no  general  sinking  of  the  sea  throughout  the 
world.  I  think  I  shall  bo  able  to  show  in  this  ajid 
the  next  lecture,  that  there  has  been,  and  is  now 
going  on,  a  magnificent  example  of  this,  sometimes 
of  a  sudden  and  at  others  of  a  gradual  and  in- 
sensible risingtand  sinking  of  the  earth.  I  will 
here  mention  one  example  in  Sweden,  because  ori- 
ginally I  disputed  the  accuracy  of  the  statement, 
until  I  visited  the  locality  and  satisfied  myself  of 
its  truth.  I  found  that  the  Northern  part  of 
Scandinavia,  of  Sweden  and  Norway,  was  rising 
five  or  six  feet  in  a  eentury,  as  is  ascertained  by 
fact*  that  have  been  observed  for  several  hundred 
years.  As  you  go  south  to  Gefle  you  find  that  the 
rising  has  diminished  to  three  feet,  and  at  Stock- 
holm to  only  two  or  three  inches  in  the  hundred 
years,  while  still  farther  south  there  was  no  motion 
at  all.  It  is  thus  as  if  the  whole  land  were  a  lever, 
which  is  stationary  at  one  point,  rising  more  and 
more  as  you  go  toward  the  end.  In  Greenland  it 
is  certain  that  since  the  early  Danes  colonized  the 
island,  built  churches  there  and  settled  the  country, 
there  has  been  a  gradual  sinking  down  of  the 
whole  coast  foi  several  hundred  miles ;  the  churches 


■  I 

■  i 

i 


r 


I 

■i 

i 


r 


in  BOino  places  have  been  submerged,  and  the 
greater  part  cf  the  lower  stories  and  tlie  pavements 
are  now  whoUj  under  water.  Theao  movements 
of  the  cartli  are  sometimes  accompanied  by  vol- 
canic eruptions,  though  not  in  Grecnlaad  and  Swe- 
den, hut.  in  South  America  they  are.  In  Chili, 
for  example,  in  1835,  that  part  of  the  coast  near 
Conception  was  raised  some  nine  feet,  and  re- 
mained permanently  at  that  hight.  The  bed  of 
the  sea  was  raised,  as  were  the  island  ef  Santa 
Maria  and  a  great  part  of  the  neighboring  coast; 
at  the  same  moment  the  volcano  of  Osarno,  in  the 
Andes,  burst  forth  and  lava  was  seen  to  flow  from 
its  crater.  A  submarine  volcano  also  burst  forth 
400  miles  west  of  Osarno  at  Bacalao,  and  the 
island  of  Juan  Fernandez  was  also  violently 
shaken.  These  facts  show  the  vast  extent  of  the 
subterranean  volcanic  activity  accompanying  the 
movement  of  the  land.  The  land  has  relapsed 
In  some  degree,  though  not  to  its  former  position. 
In  some  places  it  maintains  its  upheaval. 

But  you  may  see  a  more  remarkable  illustration 
of  this  upward  and  downward  movement  in  the 
immediate  neighborhood  of  Naples :  and  I  mention 
it  because  evidence  drawn  partly  from  antiquarian 
researches  and  partly  belonging  to  geological  proof, 
comes  home  more  easily  and  more  convincingly  to 
the  minds  of  those  not  accus*<'med  to  purely  geo- 
logical evidences.  In  my  next  lecture  when  I  come 
to  speak  of  the  coral  reefs — I  think  I  say  not  too 
much  when  I  say  that  I  shall  show  that  these  vast 
areas  of  the  Earth's  surface — extending  some 
8000  miles  from  East  to  West,  and  3000  or  4000 
from  North  to  South — are  now  undergoing  in  some 
lections  a  slow  upheaval,  and  in  others  an  equally 
gradual  subsidence.  To-day  I  shall  confine  my 
attention  to  a  small  space  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Naples,  where  the  changes  may  be  traced  for  the 
last  1800  years. 

If  you  first  look  at  a  map  of  the  country  near 
Naples,  you  see  extending  int«  the  Bay  of  Naples, 
south  of  Vesuvius,  the  Sorentine  Promontory,  off 
which  is  the  celebrated  Island  di  Ca,pri.  Pompeii 
you  will  see  at  the  south  side  of  Vesuvius,  and 
Naples  at  the  northwest.  At  the  northwest  extre- 
mity of  the  beautiful  Bay  of  Naples  you  see  the 
small  bay  of  Baire,  to  which  I  would  call  your  par- 
ticular attention.  Now  movements  have  taken 
place,  which  have  caused  a  sinking  and  then  a  re- 
elevation  in  the  Bay  of  Baia;  of  twenty-five  ftet — 
and  yet  have  not  affected  the  neighborhood  of  Na- 
ples, which  is  only  twelve  miles  distant.  This 
view  of  the  Bay  [exhibited]  was  taken  by  Sir 
William  Hamilton,  from  the  south  side  of  the 


Bay  at  Puziuoli.  On  the  plain  between  th«  se« 
and  tlie  dark  cliff,  r«preMDted  below  is  the  town 
of  Puzzuoli. 


idl 


a.  AnUquiUes  on  the  hill  S.  E.  of  Puiiuoli- 

6.  Ancient  Cliff— now  inlan<l.  

c.  Terrace  composed  of  ancient  «ubmarlne  depoatt. 

This  inland  cliff  is  eighty  feet  in  hight.  When 
I  examined  it  in  1828,  I  found  that  it  consisted  of 
indurated  volcanic  tuff,  containing  some  marine 
remains  and  the  platform  or  terrace  (a.)  between 
the  cliff  and  sea,  contained  evidences  of  having 
been  formed  under  water.  A  wall  had  been  bailt 
to  protect  the  rich  and  valuable  land  of  the  terrace 
which  slopes  from  the  base  of  the  cliff  to  the  aea. 
But  fortunately  for  me,  a  sterm  had  swept  away  a 
part  of  this  rampart  and  laid  open  a  section  80 
that  I  was  enabled  to  examine  the  alternate  beds 
of  pumice  and  lapilli  and  volcanic  matter,  with 
strata  abounding  in  various  marine  shells,  such  a» 
cockles  and  the  Mytilus  edulis  or  eatable  muscle. 
In  one  of  these  strata  I  found  squares  of  a  rich 
colored  mosaic  pavement  and  various  sculptured 
ornaments.  My  friend  Mr.  Babbage  found  at  a 
great  hight  barnacles  and  other  shells  attached  to 
the  face  of  the  cliff.  Tha  appearance  is  as  if  th« 
sea  had  beaten  against  the  base  and  thus  under- 
mined the  cliff. 

When  we  pass  round  the  premonitory  to  Puz- 
zuoli and  come  in  sight  of  the  Bay  of  Baiee  we 
see  what  is  called  Cal.gula's  Mole,  a  long  line  of 
arehes  and  piers  extending  from  the  end  of  the 
town  into  the  water.  On  the  last  of  these  arches 
but  one  there  weie  found,  ten  feet  above  the  sea 
level,  great  numbers  of  flastra  and  other  marine 
zoophytes  attached  to  the  building,which  must  once 
have  been  submerged  ten  feet  lower  than  it  now  is 
and  then  raised  to  its  present  hight.  On  the  sixth 
pier  the  same  thing  may  be  noticed.  Breislak 
observes  that  as  these  arches  now  spring  under 
water,  and  as  it  is  certain  that  originally  they  were 
built  so  as  to  spring  out  of  the  water,  though  it  is 
proved  that  the  mole  has  been  uplifted  ten  feet 
above  its  lowest  level,  still  it  has  not  yet  been  re- 
stored to  its  original  position.    If  you  stand   on 


a] 
ifE 

** 
It 

ir 

h 

i| 

ii 

)> 

I 

I- 

\r 

If 
!k 

it 


one  of  the  arckos  and  look  toward  the  land  yi.u 
Bee  another  inland  cliff  similar  to,  but  not  so  high 
as,  the  other.  Between  the  cliff  and  the  sea  ig  a 
low  terrace  calltd  La  Starza.  leading  to  the  infer- 
ence that  the  same  movomont  which  produced  the 
other  cliff,  also  extended  to  the  Northwest  and  pro- 
duced this  with  its  plain  and  caused  the  cliff  to 
become  inland.  Upon  this  plain  is  the  templo  of 
Jupiter  Serapis.  The  cliff  and  plain  are  represent- 
ed in  this  drawing : 


18 


ft  Cicero's  Academia. 

b.  Ancient  Cliff-now  inland. 

ft  Terrace  »f  Submarine  (lenofits. 

*  Temple  of  Jupitor  Serapis; 

I  will  now  mention  the  maaner  in  which  this 
♦eraple  of  Jupiter  Serapis  was  discovered.  In  tra- 
veling along  this  terrace-which  corresponds  so 
exactly  to  that  on  the  «ther  side-some  antiquaries 
in  1749,  examining  all  the  localities,  saw  conceal- 
ed  among  some  copse  wood,  the  upper  part  of 
three  columns-several  feet  above  the  ground.- 


Ihey  were  struck  with  the  circumstance,  and  de- 
termmed  to  remove  the  cops*.     They  did  so,  and 
began  to  dig  down  to  see  how  far  the  columns  ex- 
tended.    They  dug  down,  accordingly,  ten,  twenty 
and  thirty  feet,  and  still  found  these  great  shafts  : 
at  forty  feet  they  found  nobottom ;  but  at  forty-six 
feet  they  came  to  the  pedestals,  on  which  those  co- 
lumns  stood.     They  weie  buried  at   this    enor- 
mous depth,   and  when  they  had  completed  their 
digging,  they  found  a  large  pa-'^ment,  seventy  feet 
in  diameter,  level  at  the  base  of  the  columns.— 
Having  found  this,    and  still  continuing  to  clear 
away,  they  discovered  a  large  quadrangular  build- 
ing, the  roof  of  which  had  been  supported  by  forty- 
eix  of  these  magnificent  columns,  of  whi«h  half 
were  granite,  and  the  rest  marble-tho  marble  in 
each  case  being  a  single  block,  whole  from  top  to 
bottom.     Now,  in  attempting  to  account  for  this, 
you  might  at  first,  perhaps,  suppose  that  the  tem- 
ple was   buried  like  Pompeii,     which  was  over- 
whelmed  by  a  shower  of  mud   and  ashes— and 
was,  after  more  than  fifteen  centuries,  disentomb- 
ed, and  an  immense  amphitheatre  dug  out  and  ex- 
posed to  view.     You  might  think  that  this  temple 
of  Jupiter  Serapis  was  thus  buried,  being  hi  the 


eruption  occurred  in  1149.  But  wo  find  that  some 
of  the  beds,  which  have  been  dug  through,  contain 
marine  shells,  and  fragments  of  works  like  thsse  I 
mentioned  as  haying  been  found  in  the  torraca  on 
the  other  side  of  TuzzuoH,  and  the  situation  of  the 

temple  is  that  represented  in  tho  drawing  (d.) 

In  endeavoring,  too,  to  account  for  the  burial  of 
this  templo  by  the  rising  and  sinking  of  the  sea, 
you  have  first  to  suppose,  as  the  temple  was  built 
above  grouad,    that  the  sea  first  went  down— for 
tha  presence  of  marine  remains  in  the  lowest  strata, 
shows  this:  then  that  it  was  carried  up  again.— 
Bat  it  is  evident  that  in   rsality  the  temple  was 
built  above  the  water— that  it  went  down  and  was 
buried  in  the  sea,  and  that  again  it  was  raised.— 
You  may  think  all  this  very  difficult  to  believe  ;  but 
there  are  still  greater  wonders  to  account  for,  and 
which  can  be  satisfactorily  explained,   when  you 
come  to  examine  the  building. 

The  marble  columns  have  been  examined.  For 
the  first  twelve  feet  from  the  bottom  they  are 
smooth  and  uninjured— just  as  they  were  originally 
in  the  interior  of  the  temple.  (I  shall  not  stop  to 
discuss  tha  opposite  opinions  as  to  the  use  to  which 
this  temple  was  put.  It  is  generally  called  the 
temple  of  Jupiter  Serapis— from  the  omamenti 
found  in  it.    Several  hot  baths  are  found  also— and 


hot  springs  which  still  flow  out  from  the  ruin.) 
Above  this  point  is  a  zone  of  about  nine  feet  per- 
forated  by  Lythodoini,  a  kind  of  marine  bivalve 
which  has  the  power  of  perforating  rocks.  The 
upper  part  of  the  column  is  smooth  having  only 
marks  of  its  eKposure  to  the  weather. 

These  animals  whi  a  have   thus  perforated  tlie 
columns  are  a  species  called  Mytilus  Lythopha. 
gua—ox  stone-eating  moluscas.     A  diver  at  the  Bay 
of  Genoa  once  told  me  that  some  years  before  ho 
bad  thrown  to  the  bottom  a  piece  of  black  marble 
to  be  bored  by  these   animals  :  I  prevailed  upon 
him  to  go  out  in  a  boat,  dive  down  to  the  bottom 
and  bring  up  the  marble.     It  was  filled  with  these 
shells— about  the  length  of  your  fingor,  buried  in 
the  solid  rock.     It  has  long  been  diificult  to  con- 
ceive how  these  tender  shells  and  the  still  more 
tender  animals  that  inhabit  them,  should  be  able  to 
thus  eat  holes  in  the  solid  rock.     It  was  supposed 
by  some  that  they  had  the  power  of  turning  around 
as  on  an  axis,  and  that  thus  the  shells  scraped  out 
the  holes  like  a  file.     But  so  tender  are  the  shells 
that  this  seems  impossible.     If  we  suppose  the 
animals  to  secrete  an  acid  capable  of  eating  away 
j  carbonate  of  lime,  of  which  the   marble  is  com' 


region  of  the  Volcano  of  Solfatara  of  which  an    Z177  '     T       ""  ""^^''  ''  '''^• 

oouaiara,  oi   wnich  an  |  posed,  the  question  will  oscur.  why  should  not  the 


i 


19 


I 


add  eat  up  tho  i\ent,  which  an  made  of  the  same 
substance?  But  we  may  well  suppose  that  a 
feeble  acid  may  act  on  tho.  rock  and  not  eat  into  the 
shell  which  contains  tho  living  animal— especially 
when  wo  recollect  that  the  shell  is  covered  by  an 
Epidermis  or  skin,  upon  which  the  acid  will  not 
act.  It  is  probable  that  as  they  grow  large— for 
the  hole  they  make  at  first  is  small— they  are  ena- 
bled to  eat  away  tho  calcareous  matter  by  discharg- 
ing tho  acid  they  secrete.  They  have  drilled  into 
the  columns  p«ai -shaped,  cylindrical  cavities,  which 
it  must  have  required  a  considerable  time  to  exca- 
vate. Their  numbers  are  so  great,  and  they  have 
so  eaten  into  the  columns  as  to  diminish  their  dia- 
meter :  and  we  find  thatsome  of  tho  cavities  which 
the  Lithodomi  have  deserted  have  been  occupied 
by  a  specie  of  bivalv).  The  appearance  of  tho 
columns  is  indicated  by  the  following  figure. 


15.  8  uninjured. 


6.  6  uninjured 


8.  2<|  eaten  by 
myiili...... 


1.  5  uninjured 
1 .  0  calc  zone  . 
5.  8  uninjured 


Total  hight  from  bottom  of  Plinth  41.  l^. 

When  first  these  phenomena  were  observed  in  the 
last  century,  it  caused  a  great  variety  of  opinion: 
and  this  was  not  confined  to  scientific  men ,  but 
even  the  poet  Goethe  wrote  an  essay  to  explain 
how  the  salt  water  of  the  sea  (in  which  alone  the 
lithodomi  exist)  might  have  been  barred  oat — en- 
closed in  a  barrier  so  as  to  account  for  this  appear- 
ance. As  there  are  no  tides  in  the  Mediterranean, 
bow  is  the  water  to  be  carried  up  not  only  to  ths 


hight  of  twelve,  but  of  ninetfloa  feot  T  1  do  not 
say  that  if  there  were  tides  thay  would  explain  it ; 
because  the  Lithodomi  cannot  live  six  hours  out  ci 
water  like  bivalves,  which  take  water  into  their 
shells :  they  must  be  always  submerged. 

But  some  geologists  have  asserted  tliat  there  must 
have  been  a  general  chango  in  the  level  of  the  sea  ; 
that  it  must  have  stood  nineteen  feet  above  its 
subsequent  level.  But  it  may  be  replied  that  there 
are  a  thousand  proofs  to  be  drawn  from  the  history 
of  all  other  parts  of  the  Mediterranean,  that  no 
such  change  has  ever  taken  place.  It  is  certain 
that  tho  temple  exi«tod  in  the  third  century:  for, 
in  the  atrium  inscriptions  have  been  found  record- 
ing the  reparations  made  by  the  Emperor  Marcni 
Aurelius,  and  tha  additional  ornaments  given  to  it 
by  another  Emperor,  Septimius  Severus.  We 
know  then  that  it  was  used  as  a  place  of  worship- 
er for  whatever  purpose  it  was  built— down  to  the 
third  century :  and  nothing  is  more  certain  than 
that  between  the  third  and  the  middle  of  the  laat 
century  there  has  been  no  general  rise  of  tho  Medi- 
terranean. 

Nevertheless,  ia  spite  of  this  difficulty,  many 
maintained  that  the  sea  had  gone  down.  So  un- 
willing were  they  to  entertain  what  they  called  the 
paradox  of  attaching  constancy  to  the  sea  and  mo- 
bility to  the  land.  But  after  a  time  their  opposi- 
tion gave  way.  In  1828,  the  year  when  I  had  an 
opportunity  of  examining  the  place,  some  excavft- 
tions  were  made  through  the  pavement,  and  at  the 
depth  of  six  feet  below  it  the  antiquarians  came 
upon  another  pavement  more  rich  and  costly  than 
this.  This  suggested  the  idea  that  there  had  been 
a  sinking  down  previous  to  the  changes  we  have 
noticed.  The  building  being  near  the  sea,  aa  it 
gave  way  it  was  necessary  to  construct  a  new 
pavement  six  feet  above  the  other ;  and  then  upon 
this  the  whole  building  wai  erected. 

The  next  discovery  was  made  by  Niccolini,  who 
was  employed  in  1807  to  make  drawings  of  the 
temples ;  he  was  in  the  habit  of  remaining  there 
all  day  and  yet  never  saw  the  pavement  overflowed 
by  the  sea.  Sixteen  years  after,  he  had  occasion 
to  go  back  to  the  ten^le,  and  to  his  surprise  be 
found  many  parta  of  the  marble  pavement  where 
ho  had  stood  in  1807  dry,  covered  at  high  tide  b» 
water.  (I  said  there  was  no  tide  in  the  Mediter- 
ranean ;  and  it  is  usually  considered  a  tideless  sea. 
Still  there  is  a  slight  rise  and  fall  of  a  few  inches 
in  the  Bay  of  Baise.)  This  led  Niccolini  to  make 
a  series  of  --tMBrimonts  with  the  hydrometer;  and 
he  found  I..  Jie  ground  in  1840  had  been  sinking 
at  the  rate  of  about  three  fourths  of  an  inch  annu* 


Id 


A 

»-f 

)t 

hl 

d 

>■ 

i 

? 

w 


20 

illy,  t*  that  in  1840,  it  would  be  two  feet  two  in-  i  it  appears  that  the  rising  began  to  take  place,  when 


rhos  lower  than  in  1800.  When  I  waa  there  it 
was  always  covered  with  water.  When  you  know 
that  the  laud  is  thus  positively  going  down  every 
year  at  a  gradual  rate  you  will  be  loss  skeptical  in 
relation  to  the  subsidence  of  the  earth's  surface. 
Thus  wo  have  not  only  to  carry  down  the  teuipls 
far  enough  to  account  for  the  nineteen  faot  we  had 
before,  but  now  we  are  obliged  to  add  six  feet  far- 
ther for  it  to  sink  ;  we  Imvo  now  twenty-fSw  feet 
of  subsidence  to  acsount  for. 

Now,  the  question  was,    was  this  sinking  grad- 
uol  and  successive,  as  it  has   been  since  1800,  or 
was  it  sudden  7     And  to  this  we  have  a  most  sa- 
tisfactory answer.     In    1828   Mr.  Babdaoe,  tho 
celebrated    mathomaticiun,    and    another    of  my 
friends,  Mr.  Hkad,  carefully  examined  the  temple 
and  found  the  clearest  evidence  that  the  whole  was 
gradually  going  down  ;  and  Mr.  Babbaok  had  the 
kindness  to  lend  mo  the  yet  unpublished  results 
of  this  exomination.     We  find  the  columns  eaten 
at  the  ends  and  upon  tho  sides,  and  they  wished 
to  show  how  the  columns  must  have  stood  to  allow 
this.     They  found  first,  the  whole  column  incruet- 
ed  near   the  bottom  by  a  black  deposito  two  feet 
thick,  containing  Serpulae  and  marine  animals.— 
Wo  may  suppose  that  the  temple  had  then  begun 
to  sink  so  that  the   sea  should  have  covered  tho 
base  of  tho  columns  where  this  incrustation  was 
deposited.     The  top  of  the  deposition  represented 
the  water  level.    Then  came  a  shower  of  ashes, 
covering    tho    columa    for    six    or   seven    feet, 
from  an  eruption  of  the  neighboring  volcano  of 
Solfatara,  probably,  though  there  are  many  other 
volcanic  cones  in  that  vicinity.    Now  this  may  have 
shut  out  the  sea,  and  the  water  flowing  into  pools 
and  ponds  of  the  uneven  surface  may  have  caused 
the  fresh  water  formations,  as  thM-e  are  no  serpulse 
or  marine  animals  to  bo  found  there.      Then  may 
have  occurred  another  shower  of  ashes,  perhaps 
from  the   eruption   of  1149,   when  was   a  con- 
siderable   earthquake,   which   may  'have   thrown 
down  the  other  columns  which  perhaps  stood  till 
that  time.     Suppose  the  marble  ones,    (for  tie 
granite  are  untouched,)  then  to  have  rested  on  the 
uneven  surface  of  the  layer  produced  by  the  second 
shower :  the  sea  flowing  in  might  have  carried  the 
lithodomi  thither,  and  thus  the  columns  might  have 
been  eaten  on  all  sides  and  at  both  ends. 

All  these  geological  phenomena  relate  to  the  pe- 
riods of  the  succcssivo  goings  down  of  tho  temple. 
No  less  than  27  piiittrs  have  been  carefully  ex- 
amined and  iiicastiiml  inch  by  inch  and  their  origi- 
nal position  carefully  made  out.     In  the  year  1 483 


the  gri'ut  earthquake   occurred    which  destroyed 
Puizuoli  a.id  formed  those  inland  cliflTs.     We  have 
adotument,  a  chartarof  Fonlinand  and  Isabella 
of  Spain,  then  sovereigns  of  Naples,  granting  to 
the  University  of  I'uzzuoli  the  piece  of  land  near 
the  town  of  Naples  '  whore  the  sea  is  drying  up,' 
(cAe  va  aeccando  il  mare  ;)  and  this  was  followcJ 
a  few  years  after  by  another  charter  datedin  1511, 
granting  to  the  University,  tolum  desiccatum,  the 
ground  that  is  dried  up  frem  tho  sea.     So  at  tliis 
time  thoro  is  evidence  that  tho  gradual  retreating 
of  tho  sea  had  bvgvn.     In    1530,  nineteen  years 
after,  wo  have  still  tho  testimony  of  an  Italian  writer 
Sofl'rcdo  that  though  tho  sea  h;id  dried  up  still  it 
washed  the  base  of  the  inland  cliff  and  swept  across 
La  Starza  so  that  he  tolls  us  people  might  have 
fished  from  tho  ruins.     Wo  are  now  led  noarly  to 
tho  epoch  of  the  formation  of  Monto  Nuevo— tho 
new  mountain  produced  by  an  eniption  in  1538 
only  eight  years  after  Sofl'rcdo  wrote.     And  there 
is  ample  evidence    in  the  documents  collected  by 
Sir  William  Hamilton  that  tho  whole  upheaval  of 
the  land  took  place  about  that  time.     I  shall  refer 
to  jonio  account  of  that  memorable  event  when  a 
mountain  450  feet  high    was  produced    in  a  few 
nights.     This  mountain  stands  partly  on  the  site  of 
the  Lucrino  lake  and  partly  on  the  site  of  a  little 
villogo  in  tho  vicinity  called  Tripergola.     Sir  Wil- 
liam  Hamilton  has  found  two  letters  describing 
the  eruption  which  formed   tlie  mountain  and  I 
shall  read  from   them  some  interesting  passages. 
One  is  from  Falconi  in  which  he  says  : 

"  It  is  now  two  years  since  there  have  been  fre- 
quent earthquakes  at  Puzzuoli,  Naples  and  the 
Heighboring  sections.  On  the  day  and  in  tho 
night  before  iho  eruption  of  Monte  Nuovo  above 
twenty  shocks,  great  and  small,  were  folt.  The 
eruption  began  on  tho  29th  Sept.  1538.  It  was 
on  a  Sunday  about  one  o'clock  in  the  night,  when 
flames  of  fire  were  seen  between  the  hot  batJisond 
TrijMjrgola.  In  a  short  timo  the  fire  increased  to 
such  a  degree  that  it  burst  open  the  earth  in  this 
place,  and  threw  up  so  great  a  quantity  of  ashes 
and  pumice  stones  mixed  with  water,  aa  covered 
tho  whole  country.  Tho  next  morning  the  poor 
inhabitants  of  Puzzuoli  quitted  their  habitations  in 
terror,  covered  with  tho  muddy  and  black  shower 

which  continued  the  whole  day  in  that  country 

flying  from  death,  but  with  death  painted  in  their 
countenances.  Some  with  their  children  in  their 
arms  ;  some  with  sacks  full  of  their  goods;  others 
leading  an  ass  loiided  with  their  frightened  fami- 
lies  toward  Naples ;  others  carrying  quantities  of 


* 


i 


21 


* 


birds  of  varioiu  ««m,  that  livl  Wlon  aead  at  the 
beginning  of  tlin  onjption;  oth«rg,  again,  wi/hfith 
which  they  had  found  (maik  thin,)  and  which 
wore  to  bo  mnt  in  plenty  on  tho  «h»re,  the  tea 
having  le/l  them  dry  for  a  eon$idcrahle  time." 

Thi»  ii  tho  dencription  of  the  eruption  of  tho 
volcano  that  formed  Monte  Nuovo,  by  Falconi ; 
there  is  another  by  Pictro  Giacomo  di  Toledo,  in 
which hu  says:— 

"  It  is  now  two  years  since  Campagna  has  b,Ton 
nfflictod  with  earliiqimltcs— tho  country  aboiit  Vm- 
lixoW  more  than  other  parts.  On  the  27 ih  andSBih 
erf"  September  last,  the  earthquakes  -lid   not  cease 
day  or  nigiit;  the  town  of  I'liz/.uoli,  that  plain  be- 
tween Lake  Av(.rnus,  the  Monte    Barbaro  nndthe 
sea  was  raised  a  little  [a  remarkable  expression 
which  ho  would  not  havo  used  if  it  bad  boon  merely 
Q  shower  of  ashes  which  raised   it,  as   sometimes 
happens]  and  many  cracks  were  mad«  \»  it,  from 
some  of  which  issued  water :  at  tho  same  time  tho 
sea  adjoining  tho   plain  dried  up  for  about  two 
hundred  paces,  so   that  the   fish  were  left  on  the 
land  a  prey  to  tho  inhabitants  of  Puzzuoli.     At  la*t 
on  tho  29lh,  about  2  o'clock  in  tho  night,  the  earth 
opened  near   tho   Lucrine  lake  and  discovered  a 
horrid  mouth,  from  which  ever   vomited  furiously 
smoke,  fire,  stones   and  mud  composed   of  ashes, 
making  at  the  time  of  its  opening  a  noiso  lik«  the 
loudest  thunder.     Tho  stones  which  followed  were 
by  the  flames   converted  to  pumice,  and  some  of 
those  were  larger  than  an  ox.     The  stones  were 
sent  a  high  as  a  cross-bow  can  carry,"  and  so  ho  gofjs 
on   to   describe   the   shower  of  mud  that  built  up 
a  solid  mountain  which  has  a  crater  at  the  top  as 
deep  as  the  mountain  is  high.     Toledo  then  pro- 
ceeds to  say  that  the  erupiion  lasted  two  nights  and 
two  days — (the  mountain   was  produced  in  two 
nights,)  and  that  many  persons  were  knocked  down 
by  the  stones,  and  killed. 

It  appears   to  mo   evident,  not  that  the  soa  had 
retired  before  the  eruption,  but   that,    when  tho 
tremendous   explosion  took   place,  the  plain  was 
suddenly  raised,  and  there  was   then  a  drying  up 
of  tho  sea  some  time  after;  but  a  vast  deal  of 
rising  must  have  taken  place  during  those  convul- 
sionf,  as  we  know  the  red  hot  lava  to  produce  that 
liquid  fiery  matter  that  was  thrown  up  must  have 
molted  near  the  surface,  so  that  the  stream,  instead 
of  flowing  over  the  orator,  should  escape  through  the 
yielding  beds  below — between  which  it  might  flow 
latitudinally  until  it  became  high  enough  to  pierce 
through,  just  as  it  ia  easier  to   thrust  a  knife  be- 
tween two  leaves  of  a  book  than  through  them. 
But  I  have  too  many  facts  to  explain  to  you  re- 


lative to  thoffl  supflrficial  chaii|;et  having  li  <  n 
caused  by  an  upward  and  downward  movement  of 
the  F.arth,  to  enter  this  svoning  upon  tho  varioui 
speculations  roHpocting  thoio  matters.  You  per- 
ceive that  wa  have  carried  the  temple  down  twenty- 
five  feet  gradually,  and  that  it  has  shot  up  nearly 
the  whole  distance,  though  not  entirely,  at  ena 
eruption. 

Not  far  from  tho  Temple  of  Serapis  are  the 
ruins  of  two  temples,  obo  of  tho  Nymphs  and  th« 
other  of  Neptuno.  The  columns  of  the  former 
stand  erect  in  five  feet  water.  Tho  temple  was 
doubtless  submerged,  and  if  there  should  over  be 
an  upheaval  of  tho  bottom  of  the  bay,  this  temple 
would  probably  bo  exhumed  as  was  tho  other.  As 
to  the  diiliculty  that  arises  from  the  columns  not 
having  fallen  down  like  tho  others,  it  should  be 
recollected  that  they  went  down  slowly,  only  three- 
fourths  of  an  inch  in  a  year,  and  that  before  tha 
great  earthquake  of  1149  occurred,  they  were 
buried  twelve  feet  deep  in  incnistation  or  in  ashes; 
being  made  of  one  block,  they  would  bo  quite 
likely  to  remain  erect. 

One  fact  I  forgot  to  mention :  that  these  columns 
are  a  little  out  of  a  perpendicular — inclining  slightly 
toward  the  sea.  Originally  they  must  have  been 
perpendicular;  therefore  the  movement  must  have 
been  greater  toward  the  land ;  and  this,  too,  may 
explain  why  the  temples  of  Neptune  and  tho 
Nymphs  are  lower  down  and  are  not  yet  raised. 
An  antiquarian,  named  Capocci,  has  proved  con- 
fdusivoly  that  while  these  movements  accurred  at 
Pu7.zuoli,  no  changes  have  taker  place  at  Naples, 
so  that  we  havo  an  oscillation  of  twenty-five  feet 
up  and  down,  while  at  twelve  miles  distance 
every  thing  is  stationary  :  an  important  fact  in  the 
explanation  of  a  great  variety  of  geological  phe- 
nomena, some  of  which  I  alluded  to  in  my  other 
lectures. 

When  you  examine  the  new  moimtain  you  find 
no  indication  that  it  is  more  modern  in  its  origin 
than  the  others  in  its  neighborhood.  Indeed,  as 
the  same  country  is  under  cultivation,  for  the  most 
part  the  vines  are  lifeless  for  much  of  the  year,  and 
the  olives  are  of  a  pale  green.  Bnt  Mt.  Nuovo  is 
covered  with  evergreens,  myrtles,  olives,  and  ar- 
butus : — it  is  the  most  verdant  spot  in  all  that  re- 
gion: showing  apparently  that  it  is  less  modern  than 
the  barren  hills  in  its  neighborhood.  Nothing  can 
be  more  striking  than  the  whole  landscape — every 
part  of  the  picture  is  in  such  perfect  harmony  with 
tho  rest,  that  you  would  not  suppose  dilTerent 
dates  belonged  to  the  difterent  mountains. — 
Yet  I  have  found  at  a  hight  of  2,600  feet  raarina 


■bellii,  identical  in  ipAciei  with  thoae  which  now 
live,  buricid  in  tho  ulratii  of  ancient,  submarine  tuff. 
The  whole  country,  wliich  ii  lo  modem,  either  con- 
(iiti  of  tiiiR  volcani,  matter  wiiich  has  i)ccn  thrown 
up  ainco  it  emerged  from    the  iiea,  or  of  strata  in 
which  you  find  ahcllii  and  zoophytes  identical  with 
those   tiiat  now   live;    and   yet   when   the   early 
Greek  colony  first  look  possession  of  it  2,500  years 
■go,  the  appeomnco  of  the  vailejs   and  hills  was 
much    tlie  sama   as  you    find   it   now.     Yon  can 
scarcely   avoid   being  siirprisod  at  tho  prodigious 
antiquity,  relatively  to  the  historical  jn-riod,  even 
of  tho  modem  strata  containing  tho  same  shells 
which  I  linve  spoken  of  in  my   last  two   lectures, 
when  alluding  to  the  antitiuity  of  the  great  mass  of 
^tna,  while  all   its  vast  sheets  of  lava  and  scoria; 
rest  on  marine  foimaiiens  as  modern  as  tho  Bay 
of  Baia;.     These   species  of  plants    and  animals 
which  inhabit    the   hills  of  that  country  are  more 
ancient  than  the  country  itself. 

Now  you  may  say  that  this  is  an  apparent  para- 
dox :  yet  you  will  easily  comprehend  it  if  you  at- 
tend to  such  a  meuntain    as   Nuovo,   which   since 
1538  has  l)ecn  colonized  by  all  the  wild  plants  and 
animals  of  its  neighborhood.     So   ittna  has  been 
covered  with  vegetation  older  than  the  mountain 
itself;    not  only  were    these   species  of  animals 
and  plants  alive  before  tho  country  ro?o  from  tho 
sea,  but  during  that  whole  period  when  the  vast 
thick  strata  of  hills  first  began  to  be  elaborated  at 
the  bottom  of  the  ocean.     So  we  jtiny  affirm  that 
the  Fauna  and  tlie  Flora  of  this  region  are  of  a 
higher   antiquity  than  the  country  itself.     Were 
I  to  atujmpt  to  give  you  an  idea  of  this  period  of 
time—the  most  modern  subdivision  of  which,  this 
tertiary  and  its  succeeding  periods,  I  have  thus  far 
considered—if  I  were  to  compare  it  to  any  thing  of 
which  wo  hare  a  conception,  1  wowld  say  that  this 
period,  of  which  I  have  spoken  thus  far,  may  be 
compared  to  such  distances  as  exist  within   our 
•olar    system— between    the    different    planetary 
bodies. 

Now  when  astronomers  endeavor  to  measure  the 
distances  of  the  solar  system,  they  tell  us  that  the 
earth  i<.  one  hundred  millions  of  miles  frem  the 


22 


ca.ui  ..  one  nundred  millions  of  miles  frem  the    P^sent  state  of  the  organic  world  has  not  gone  on 
•UB ;  because  they  find  that  when  six  months  have  '  f^om  eternity,  as  the  ancient  philosophers  pretend- 


Yet  when  they  attempt  to  esttmale  the  greater 
•paci.  which  separates  our  Solar  System  from  the 
nearest  star,  which  again  is  probably  tho  centre  of  a 
System  ns  magnificent  as  ours,  they  are  bafllod  in 
tho  endeavor,  and  can  only   find  a  distance  which 
shall  bo  the  minimun—noT  till    lately   have  they 
arrived  at  any  accurate  calculation  concerning  it. 
But  it  seems,  by  observations  on  tlio  parallax,  a 
Prussian  astronomer,  BessKL,  has  measured  tho 
distance  of  one  star  in  tho  constellation  Cygui.-' 
The  angle    subtended    by    the    diameter  of    tho 
Earth'r  orbit  at  that  star  it  found  to  be  one-third 
of  a  seoond,  and  what  distance  docs  this  third  of  a 
second  give   you  /     Take    the    diameter   of  the 
Earth's  orbit  for  a  imit,  and  then  700,000  of  these 
units,  will  express  tho  distance  of  one  of  those  stars 
in  Cygni  from  our  Earth,  and  perhaps  that  star  is 
tho  nearest,  and  separated  from  the  others  which 
we  see  by  a  distance  equally  vast. 

Perhaps,  should  we  compare  time  and  space, 
this  would  bo  tho  kind  of  distance  which  should 
contain  the  myriads  of  organic  remains  of  speciea 
distinct  from  the  species  immediately  antecedent 
and  following.  The  minor  subdivisions  of  which 
I  have  spoken  would  bo  compared  to  tho  space  of 
our  own  solar  system:  the  others,  with  the  grander 
stellar  distances. 

Now  it  is  a  favorite  speculation  of  astronomers, 
that  nil  these  worlds,  separated  so  widely,  may  bo 
inhabited;  but  this  is  mere  conjecture— a  probable 
conjecture,  if  you  like,  but  still  incapable  of  de- 
monstration.     But  the  geologist  proceeds  differ- 
ently.     He  has  indisputable   proofs,    that    thcro 
have  existed  on  this  planet  a  succession  of  inhabi- 
tants,  and  distinct  races  of  animals  and  plants. 
And  though  he  does  not  measure  the  limits  of  time 
so  accurately,  and  with  such  geometric  precision, 
as  the  astronomer,  still,  by  tho  vast  series  of  events 
—by  tho  methodical  phenomena  of  tho  earth- ho 
finds  established,  by  purely  physical  phenomena 
and  proofs,  the  declaration  of  Revelation,  that  in 
tiie  first  time  Man  had  no  cxiatence;  that  man  had 
a  beginning,  and  that  other  races  existed  anterior 
to  him.     Man  had  a  beginning ;  and  therefore  tlio 
present  state  of  the  organic  worid  has  not  gone  on 


gone  around,  the  earth  is  in  the  opposite  side  of  her 
orbit,  which  is  two  hundred  millions  of  miles  in 
diameter.  They  calculate,  therefore,  by  the  angles 
•ubtended,  with  the  diameter  of  her  orbit  as  the 
base,  that  a  distance  of  one  hundred  millions  of 

miles  is  between  tbn  »>nrtb  n^A  tUn  — ._      ti t.. 

piter  is  five  times  as  far  away  ;  Saturn  ten  times, 
and  so  of  the  others. 


.1 ;  ir-'\  we  have  been  able  to  prove,  that  beings 
l\i-^,  called  I ,  the  Creator  into  existence,  on  this 
I'ivjj  •.  ~t>  -isplay  the  beautiful  and  i>erfect  har- 
•.naay  oi  the  Universe— to  show  that  all  is  modeled 
on  one  plan ;  that  different  as  are  the  various  genera 
that  have  lived,  they  all  belong  to  the  same  family. 
Geology  shows  that  all  things  are  the  works  of  one 
Intelligence— one  Mind— all  links  of  one  chain  ; 


%, 


I 


I 


23 


that  thn  Karth  musthavn  boon  admirably  fitted  for 
•uccoKiivfl  Rtutt't  which  were  to  endure  fur  agei. 
Thim  do  wn  lonrN  tomlmir*^  the  variety  and  beauty 
uf  deii|;ndii|)layod  when  we  find  traces  and  atgni 


of  the  lame  design,  the  tame  anity  of  plan,  th« 
*ame  harmony  of  wisdnm  tlimugh  to  va*t  a  teriM 
a*  hat  beon  «ittabii«hud  by  tlic  Infinit«  and  Etc^ 
nol  Crcaiivo  power. 


f 

4 


LECTURE     IV. 


CORAL  ttEBrS. 


I  havp  already  8ai<1  tiiat  in  the  strubt'.<ra  of  the 
crust  of  tho  Karth  wc  have  h  groat  variety  of  gn.Mps 
in  wliich  the  disli.K  t  strn*'  may  he  oxpresged,  if 
wc  group  thid"  '.argoly — if  we  talto  wide  nnd  com- 
prehcnsivu  t'l.iiionii — by  the  diftVrent  numbers 
and  colors,  as  from  «ae  to  eight  in  this  figure  [ex- 
hibited] ;  and  that  the  different  sets  of  strata — for- 
mations as  they  are  culled — are  arranged  one  above 
the  other  in  tho  order  in  which  they  are  formed. 
Not  that  they  are  invariably  all  to  be  met  in  one 
place,  for  it  is  not  often  that  wo  find  more  than  one, 
or  two,  or  three,  «f  thnso  strata  in  any  particular  dis- 
trict: but  if  these  different  sets  are  present,  wa 
shall  find  thom  arranged  in  the  order  of  relative 
position  in  whi<-h  they  are  represented — each  cer- 
responding  to  tho  different  period  of  the  Earth'a 
history  at  which  it  was  farmed.  So  that  thoy  may 
be  regarded  as  a  great  chronological  table — as  so 
many  volumes  of  History  in  which  the  strata  are 
the  different  pages ;  ond  upon  them  are  written  the 
names  and  charasters  of  the  plants  and  animals 
which  lived  and  flourished  at  this  period,  with 
many  other  indications  of  climate,  habits,  Slc.  in 
the  periods  when  the  different  tribes  flourished. — 
Now  if  we  examine  in  succession  these  rocks  we 
find  that  a  great  number  of  those  of  calcareous 
formation,  ov  limestones,  are  composed  in  great 
^'ait  of  coriun  and  shells;  for  exum7)lo,  if  wo  take 
the  Chalk  formation  of  Europe — represented  in  the 
figure  as  No.  2 — wo  find  a  large  portion  of  it  to  be 
a  white  calcareous  rock  made  up  of  corals  and 
shells  almost  entirely  decomposed.  I  have  myself 
seen  in  the  island  of  Seeland,  fifty  miles  from  Co- 
penhagen, at  Faxoe,  this  very  chalk  formation  pass 
into  a  mass  of  corals  in  which  more  than  a  hundred 
species  of  zoophytes  and  shells  are  found.  Be- 
tween the  zoophytes  is  found  chalky  matter — like 
the  ordinary  chalk.  This  formation  extends  for 
more  than  a  thousand  miles  in  one  direction,  and 
eight  hundred  in  the  other — not  continuously,  but 


in  large  paiche*,  which  preserve  much  tho  sanvc 
character.  In  this  country  too,  as  in  Ne\r  Jersey, 
nro  found  rocks  of  tho  same  ago,  not  with  the 
white  rocks  of  the  same  kind,  but  at  difl'erent  in- 
IcrvaU  down  wo  find  in  the  rock,  corals  and  shelli 
made  up  of  an  aggregate  of  extinct  species,  but  in 
great  part  of  genera,  the  same  as  now  live  in  tropi- 
cal seas.  And  this  is  regarded  as  one  proof  that 
formerly  tho  climate  was  much  warmer  than  since ; 
as  it  is  only  in  warm  climates  that  these  stona 
building  zoophites  increase  and  abouna.  There 
arc  zoophytes  of  tho  same  class  in  oil  regions  of  the 
globe :  but  these  which  form  large  masses  of  stone 
(which,  when  tho  animal  dies  becomes  what  we 
may  term  hard  rock,)  aro  found  at  present  only  in 
warm  regions  ef  the  globe. 

Now,  I  might  trace  the  different  formation*  in 
which  they  occur,  and  point  out  the  limestones  in 
which  they  abound.  In  what  is  called  the  Juraa- 
sique  or  Oolite  formation,  these  corals  are  found 
through  England,  France  and  Germany,  atdifTerent 
highta  with  great  intervals  of  clay — in  some  cases 
six  or  seven  hundred  feet  thick.  The  corals  are 
found  above  the  other  except  when  they  have  been 
destroyed  by  the  depositions  of  clay,  for  thoy  can 
live  only  in  pure  water.  It  is  clear  that  where 
these  take  place  and  in  tho  intervals  between  the 
different  layers  of  coralline  formation  there  had  been 
a  sinking  of  the  floor  of  the  sea,  since  it  is  found 
that  these  zoophytes  cannot  build  in  the  deep  and 
dark  parts  of  the  ocean, — that  they  will  not  thrive 
in  a  depth  of  more  than  120  feet  below  tho  sur- 
face :  and  therefore  wo  find  a  mass  of  this  coralline 
limestone  with  1000  feet  of  clay  above  and  then 
another  layer  of  coral,  and  then  1500  feet  thick 
of  this  cretaceous  rock ;  it  is  evident  that  these 
were  formed  not  at  a  depth  of  several  miles  but 
r,!>nr  the  Euraee :  and  that  they  then  sank  down  io 
allow  the  accumulations  above. 

If  we  come  to  the  carboniferous  or  cool  forma- 


m 
1   ■ 


is? 


■■%-jr,, 


24  i 

XioH,  (which  I  shall  describe  more  particularly  in    warms  the  ocean  and  raises  the  temperature  be- 


my  next  lecture,)  we  find  beds  of  coal  separated 
by  vast  thicknesses  of  other  strata,  which  can  only 
be  explaini'd  by  supposing  that  there  has  been  a 
sinking  of  the  surface  of  the  land.  Below  the 
roal  are  found  the  most  ancient  foasiliforous  rocks, 
which  have  an  antiquity  far  higher  than  the  thick 
limesten^',  for  the  corals  grow  on  spots  which  are 
now  found  covered  in  great  part  with  extinct  gen- 
era, or  those  which  arc  only  foimd  in  tropical  seas, 
whei-e  coral  reefs  abound.  In  New-York,  in  par- 
ticular, there  are  large  developements  of  this  for- 
mation, as  I  shall  show  when  I  come  to  speak  of 
the  district  around  Niagara,  when  I  shall  show 
the  bights  from  which  we  are  to  suppose  the  bed 
of  the  sea  has  sunk,  and  the  era  when  these  ma- 
rine plants  and  animals  abounded.  Now  if  we 
find,  OH  examination  of  existing  coral  reefs  that 
have  limestone  in  their  structure,  similar  in  their 
character  over  a  vast  extent  of  the  globe,  that 
there  is  now  in  progress  a  considerable  going 
down  of  the  bed  of  the  sea ;  we  shall  then  feel 
more  confidence  in  the  appearances  and  facts  on 
which  depend  some  of  the  most  interesting  prob- 
lems respecting  the  origin  of  the  materials  of  the 
Earth's  crust. 

I  shall  now  proceed  to  give  some  accaunt  of  the 
Coral  Reefs,  and  of  the  manner  in  which  they 
grow  in  the  sea.  I  have  been  favored  by  Mr. 
Charles  Darwin,  who  is  about  to  publish  a  most 

excellent  work  on  Coral  Reefs,  with  this  map 

which  will  first  be  published  ia  his  book — drawn 
up  after  a  personal  examination  of  the  region  re- 
presented, and  a  most  extensive  reading  of  works 
upon  the  subject.  On  it  are  depicted  all  the  spots 
known  at  present  where  Corals  now  grow.   These 


yond  what  naturally  belongs  to  that  zone.  You 
see  by  this  map  that  in  the  Indian  Ocean  in  par- 
ticular and  in  the  great  Pacific  and  South  Seas  is 
a  prodigious  growth  of  corals.  And  it  is  a  very 
remarkable  circumstance  that  almost  all  the  isl- 
ands in  that  part  of  the  sea — all  that  are  colored 
blue — consist  of  strips  of  coral  of  an  annular  form 
— more  or  less  perfectly  circular— and  sometimes 
oval.  And  these  strips  have  lagoons  in  the  cen- 
tre— small  lakes  of  salt  water.  On  one  side  of 
this  narrow  "trip  is  an  unfathomable  ocean  at  but 
a  short  distance  from  the  edge  of  6he  ridge  of  co- 
ral. It  was  formerly  supposed  that  these  coral 
reefs  were  built  up  from  the  bottom  of  the  unfath- 
omable ocean  ;  but  now  since  we  know  that  these 
lUhophytes,  as  they  are  called,  cannot  exist  at  a 
depth  of  more  than  120  feet — the  limit  assigned 
by  Darwin  (and  some  other  considerable  natu- 
ralists  think  that  the  limit  is  still  more  narrow,) 
we  infer,  as  a  fact  of  Natural  History,  that  these 
were  not  built  up  from  the  bottom  of  the  ocean. 
And  this  is  perfectly  in  accoi  dance  with  the  fact 
that  in  thousands  of  cases  no  soundings  are  te  be 
found  at  enormous  depths — only  a  fourth  or  half  a 
mile  from  the  outer  part  of  these  narrsw  rims  of 
coral.  One  of  these  circular  islands  is  represented 
in  this  picture,  which  was  taken  from  an  original 
drawing  colored  on  the  spot  by  Lieut.  Smythe  who 
accompanied  Capt.  Bkechey  in  his  voyage  to  the 
Pacific.  It  may  be  proper  to  say  thai  the  view  is 
represented  as  having  been  taken  from  a  higher 
point  than  the  top  of  the  mast  from  which  it  was 
actually  taken,  so  that  more  of  the  inner  part  of 
the  island  can  be  seen  than  in  the  other  case.  The 
island  is  three  er  four  miles  in  diameter,  of  cree- 


portions    [represented   by   the  blue  color]  mark    cent  shape,  and  you  see   a  narrow  rim  of  coral 


those  places  where  there  is  reason  to  believe  the 
bed  of  the  sea  is  going  down,  as  slowly,  perhaps, 
as  the  floor  of  the  Temple  of  Jupiter  Serapis,  de- 
scribed in  my  last  lecture.  By  the  red  are  marked 
the  spaces  where  Corals  have  been  raised  at  vari- 
ous elevations  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 

You  will  be  able  to  see  at  a  glance  the  vast  ex- 
tent of  the  region  where  corals  abound.  You  will 
sec,  too,  that  it  is  chiefly  within  twenty  degrees 
North  and  South  of  the  IJquator — in  the  warmest 
parts  of  the  ocean.  Sometimes  it  reaches  beyond 
the  twentieth  degree  but  rarely  so  far  as  thirtv. 
Its  greatest  deviation  is  in  the  Bermuda  Islands, 
which  have  a  latitude  of  thirty-two  degrees — which 
is  the  farthest  point  from  the  Equator  where  co- 
rals are  yet  known:    and  this  is  evidently  con- 


covered  with  tufts  of  cocoa,  and  bread  fruit  and 
other  trees.  On  the  windward  side  the  reef  is 
higher  than  on  the  other ;  and  on  the  leeward 
side  is  an  opening  of  thirty  or  forty  feet — so  that 
ships  can  enter  and  lie  in  safety  in  the  lagoon. 
This  opening,  most  fortunately,  is  just  on  that  side 
where  it  is  most  needed ;  for  there,  during  terrible 
storms  and  temyx'sts,  vessels  may  enter  into  the 
tranquil  lagoon,  where  the  water  is  shallow,  com- 
pared with  the  ocean  without,  and  whore,  in  con- 
sequence of  its  shallow  depth,  it  is  of  a  most  beau- 
tiful green  color.  Many  of  you  who  have  sailed 
across  the  Atlantic;  must  have  observed  that,  along 
the  Banks  of  Newfoundland,  where  the  water  is 
i-omparatively  ahaHnw,  it  is  of  a  deep  green  ;  and 
in  those  latitudes  where  there  is  white  coral  at  the 


nected  with  the  course  of  the  Gulf  Stream  which  '  bottom  and  a  buniing  tropical  Sun  over  head,  the 


*■'-••■*■•"'■-  '. 


iperature  bo> 
zone.  You 
Dcean  in  par- 
South  Seas  ia 
d  it  is  a  very 
St  £11  the  isl- 
t  are  colored 
annular  form 
d  aometimes 
s  in  the  cen- 
1  one  side  of 
ocean  at  but 
ridge  of  co- 
these  coral 
f  tlie  unfath- 
iw  that  these 
ot  exist  at  a 
nit  assigned 
ierable  natu- 
)re  narrow,) 
y,  that  these 
if  the  ocean, 
nth  the  fact 
igs  are  te  be 
irth  or  half  a 
rrsw  rims  of 
\  represented 
n  an  original 

5MYTHE  who 

■eyago  to  the 
,  the  view  ig 
cm  a  higher 
vhich  it  was 
iiicr  part  of 
3r  case.  The 
ter,  of  creg- 
im  of  coral 
id  fruit  and 
the  reef  is 
the  leeward 
ect — so  that 
the  lagoon, 
on  that  side 
fing  terrible 
Iter  into  the 
allow,  corn- 
ore,  in  con- 
.  most  beau- 
have  sailed 
1  that,  along 
he  water  in 
green  ;  and 
coral  at  tha 
!r  head,  the 


25 


vivid  green  of  the  sea  water  is  described  as  most 
baautiful  by  those  who  have  visited  these  islands. 
Down  through  its  green  depths,  they  lell  us,  you 
may  see  great  herds  of  fish  browsing  upon  the 
coral  branches — for  some  species  have  strong, 
bony  jaws  by  which  they  easily  crush  the  coral, 
shell  and  all :  you  see  them  feeding  upon  th* 
zoophytes  as  the  herds  of  buffaloes  feed  on  the 
herbs  and  trees  of  your  wide  prairies.  And  even 
the  prairie  itself  in  spring  time  is  not  enameled 
with  more  beautiful  colors  or  with  a  greater  va- 
riety of  flowers  and  plants  than  are  those  beautiful 
beds  of  coral,  according  to  the  descriptions  of 
Ehrenberg  and  others  who  describe  these  lakes 
as  like  beds  of  tulips — So  beautiful  and  variegated 
are  their  colors  when  seen  through  the  still  waters 
beneath  that  tropical  sun. 

X  may  hero  mention  a  fact  of  considerable  geolo- 
gical interest  relating  to  one  of  these  fish,  called 
Sparus.  When  their  bodies  are  opened  and  their 
intestines  examined,  they  are  found  to  be  filled 
rith  a  very  dry  chalk — a  soft,  calcareous  powder, 
which  proves  to  be  almost  indistinguishable  from 
soft,  pulverulen*:  chalk.  I  have  myself  seen  some 
brought  from  the  Bermudas  by  Lieut.  Nelson, 
which  so  nearly  resembled  European  chalk  that  we 
were  obliged  to  use  {jreat  care  lest  the  labels  should 
get  changed,  and  we  should  mistake  it  for  the 
chalk  with  which  we  were  comparing  it. 

The  animals  which  form  these  reefs — for  the 
whole  is  a  rim  not  half  a  mile,  and  generally  but 
three  or  four  hundred  yards  wide,  covered  often  by 
shells  of  Echini,  or  sea  urchins  and  otJior  shell 
fish — cannot  bu41d  one  inch  above  the  level  of  the 
sea.  Till  y  cannot  allow  themselves  to  be  left 
bare  at  low  tide  ;  so  that  when  the  reef  is  so  high 
that  it  remains  almost  dry,  the  corals  leavs  off 
building.  The  heat  of  the  sun  then  often  causes 
the  mass  to  crack,  and  the  force  of  the  waves 
tears  off  largo  branches  of  the  coral,  which  are 
thrown  up  upon  the  reef,  thus  raising  it  above  the 
reach  of  the  usual  tide.  After  this  the  white, 
calcareous  sand  thrown  upon  it  by  the  wind  lies  un- 
disturbed ;  and  upon  it  are  lodged  the  seeds  of  the 
cocoanut  and  other  plants,  which  grow  up,  until 
at  length  the  little  island  is  overshadowed  with  lux- 
uriant vegetation.  Then  come  stray  birds  and  build 
tlicir  nests  there ;  insects  float  thither  on  wood 
which  has  drifted  thousands  and  thousands  of 
tt'.les,  and  at  length  the  island  becomes  inhabited. 
Here  is  a  specimen  of  the  Meandrina  coral— [ex 
hibited  ;]  it  is  a  small  shell  of  a  young  animal  ; 
and  you  can  conceive,  when  such  is  the  size  of  this 
baby-coral,  how  vast  must  be  the  size  of  a  number 


of  zoophytes  of  different  genera — as  the  Madre- 
pora,  Astrea,  Porites,  (of  which  I  here  show  you 
a  section,)  the  Oculina,  and  others,  of  which  thej 
remains  are  found  in  the  older  rocks,  and  which 
now  abound  in  the  tropical  seas.  These  shells 
and  zoophytes  constitute  the  mass  of  the  materials 
of  these  reefs.  As  to  the  nature  of  these  animal 
plants,  as  they  are  called — and  very  properly,  too, 
for  they  seem  to  form  the  intervening  link  between 
animal  and  vegetable  organization — there  is  still 
great  doubt.  I  shall  only  observe  those  called  Pel- 
lyps,  inhabiting  this  stony  structure,  haso  a  num 
ber  of  tentacula,  or  feelers,  and  a  great  cup- 
shaped  mouth,  into  which  they  force  food  seized  by 
these  tentacula,  and  which  then  closes,  and  they 
are  able  to  digest  their  food.  These  assist  in 
strengthening  that  part  which  is  improperly  called 
the  root ;  for  they  are  fixed  at  the  lower  point  by 
a  point  which  somewhat  resembles  a  root,  though, 
as  it  does  not  tako  in  nourishment,  as  do  the  roots 
of  vegetables,  the  analogy  is  not  correct. 

In  the  common  red  coral  of  the  Mediterranean 
you  see  a  solid  internal  skeleton,  surrounded  by  a 
fleshy  covering,  which,  in  that  case,  is  smootli ; 
but  when  this,  in  which  the  animal  resides,  is 
taken  off,  you  see  a  striated,  fluted  surface,  to 
which  attention  must  be  paid  in  studying  the  fos- 
sils— since  we  have  not  the  living  animals.  I  shall 
not  enter  (as  I  have  so  much  geological  ground  to 
go  over,)  upon  a  description  of  the  different  varie- 
ties  of  Pollyps.  But  you  may  ask  whether  they 
exist  as  separate,  independent  individuals — or 
whether  the  whole  mn'^s  of  coral  is  regarded  as 
one  and  indivisible.  The  same  kind  of  question 
may  he  raised  with  regard  to  trees:— whether 
each  flower  is  a  separate  individual,  or  whether 
the  whole  is  to  be  regarded  as  an  aggregate.  We 
may  perhaps  best  consider  them  as  aH  animal  re- 
public, in  which  all  combine  to  build  one  habita- 
tion, while  each  preserves  its  individuality.  The 
general  opinion,  both  in  regard  to  the   plants,  and 

zoophytes,  is   that  each  is  a  definite  indiyidual, 

Although  so  beautiful  when  in  the  water,  take  one 
of  these  stone  building  corals  out,  and  you  see 
nothing  but  a  brown  slime  when  the  animal  is  col- 
lapsed. 

It  is  a  remarkable  circumstance,  that,  although 
these  little  islands  arc  scattered  about  so  far  from 
ea/^h  other  in  the  wide  ocean,  u;'>n  everj-  one  ca- 
pable of  supporting  them  were  found  a  few  fami- 
lies when  first  discovered.  We  should  regard  this 
as  mysterious  if  we  did  not  learn  from  the  Voytk- 
ges  of  Cook,  Koezebue,  Flinders,  and  Lieut. 
Beechey,   that  canoes  are  frequently  drifted  500  or 


26 


1500  milos— driven  before   the  wind  in  one  direc- 
tion by  the  monsoon,  until,  hopeleia  of  recovering 
th'iir  homes,  they  land  upon  some  one  of  these  is- 
lands— where  they  find  cocoa-nut*  and  bread  fruit, 
and   fresh  water  too.     This  is  singular,  for  you 
would  think  that  there  would  bo  but  little  chance 
of  finding  fresh  water  upon  these  small   islands  : 
but  if  you  dig  into  the  sand,  there  it  is — so  that 
vessels  at  sea  are  often  able  to  relieve  their  thirst. 
The   beauty   of  these  islands  is   described    in 
glowing  terms  by  most  of  those  who  have  naviga- 
ted those  portions  of  the  sea.     Generally  there  is 
a   constant  white    surf  breaking   over  the    outer 
margin,  which  is  seen  gradtwlly  to  die  away  with 
the  dark  heaving  waters  of  the  ocean,  which  con- 
tinue  to  boil  and  rage  lar    beyond.     Within,   the 
water  is  green  and  tranquil ;  around  it  and  out- 
side the  green  line  of  blooming  vegetation  is  a-glit- 
tering  beach   of  white  sand.     Beneath  the  water 
you  may  see  fish  and  various  kinds  of  Zoophytes. 
The  very  loneliness   of  these   islands,   moreover, 
gives  tliem  a  romantic  aspect.     Sometimes    they 
are  seven  hundred  miles  away  fnpm   the  nearest 
neighboring  island,  and  more  than  a  thousand  from 
the  continent,  or  even  much  farther.     The   struc- 
ture of  these  islands,  as  well  as  their  position   in 
the  unfathomable  ocean,  is  remarkable.     You  find 
no  part  of  them  argillaceous   or  silicious  ;    everj' 
portion    is    made   up  of  an   organic  structure  of 
which  the  tubes  and  stems  are  all  you  find.    And 
what  is  still  more  wonderful,  these  islands,  which 
appear  so  weak  and  fragile  in  their  nature — these 
mere  barriers  of  coral  are  beaten  upon  incessant- 
ly by  the  swell  of  the  great   ocean,   and  yet  are 
not  annihilated.     As  Darwin   truly   observes,  if 
they  were  only  rocks  of  common  granite  or  quartz, 
they  would    inevitably    yield   to  the   prodigious 
force  of  these  waves  thus  breaking  over  them. — 
But  here  is  a  greater  power  than  any  mere   inor- 
ganic structure  :  in  its  nature  far  superior  to   the 
mechanical  force  of  the  waves  :  it  is  the  power  of 
life,  of  vitality ;  these  zoophytes  on  the  outer  edge 
of  the  reef  break  the  force  of  the  waves   by    their 
yielding  bodies  ;  they  bend  like  a  willow  before 
the  storm,  and  thus   conquer    the   power   of  the 
great  restless  ocean.     Indeed  that  part  of  the  reef 
against  which  the  waves  beat   with  most    turbu- 
lence increases  much  the  fastest ;  for  these  orga- 
nic forces  separate  the  atoms  of  carbonate  of  lime 
from  the  foaming  breakers,  and  build  them  up  into 
tbsir  symmetrical  structure  :  myriads  of  these  ar- 
chitects are  thus  at  work,  day   and  night — inonth 
after  month. 
But  what  causes  the  sineidar,  ting-like  shape  of 


these  islands  and  why  are  so  many  just  on  a  love 
with  the  sea  and  neither  higher  nor  lower  ?  These 
questions  have  been  asked  ever  since  the  peculiar 
formation  and  mineral  character  of  these  islands 
wero  ascertained.     It  was  at  first  imagined,  and  I 
onco   maintained  the  opinion,   that  thry  were  the 
craters  of  sub-marine   volcanoes.      When  it  was 
iiscovcred  that  Flinders  was   wrong  in  supposing 
that  they  could  be  built  at  a  great  depth,  in  the 
cold  and   dark  regions  of  the    ocean,  up  from  the 
bottom,  it  was  natural  (d  suppose  that  they  might 
have   grown   upon    the  tops   of  some   submarine 
mountains.     But  what   mountains  would  give  this 
shape  to   the   corals?     Or  was  it   indispensable 
that  they  should  be  built  in  this    peculiar   form  ? 
Now  when  Ehren  berg  examined  thecoiialsof  the 
Red  Sea  he  found  that  some   banks  were  squaro 
while  others  were  rifebon-like  strips  witli  flat  tops 
and  without  lagoons;  and  yet  they  were  of  the  same 
genera  as  those  which  had  lagoons,  the  same  as 
the  atolls,  as  they  were  named  from  those  observed 
in  the  Maldivo  pnd  Laccadive  Islands,  the  term 
expressing   an  island   with    a  rim  of    coral    out- 
side  and  a   lagoon   within.     It   was  thus  found 
that  this  annular  shape  is  not  essential;  but  that 
the  corals  may  form  in  a  dift'erent  shape.     It  was 
therefore  natural  to  suppose  that  this  form  depend- 
ed on  the  outline  of  the   submarine   bottam,    and 
that  they  were  based  on  volcanic  crater8,thousand8 
of  which  were  known  to  exist  in  that  part  of  the 
sea.     These   craters   would  give  the  cup-shaped 
center  and  the  rim  might  be  covered  with  corals 
by  these  zoophytes.    In  the  South  Shetland  Islands 
and  in    Barren  Island  in  the  Bay  of  Bengal,   are 
submarine   volcanoes    with   craters  in  the    center 
and  a  breach  in  the  side  so  that  you  may  sail  with- 
in and  see  all  around  the  walls  of  the  crater.  Now 
when  submerged  the  corals  might  easily  have  been 
built  upon  them.     In  farther  support  of  this  theo- 
ry it  was   observed   that   in  Gambier's   group  of 
islands    there    wero  volcanic  rocks  with  a  lagoon 
in  the  center,  just  as  modern  volcanoes  have  sprung 
up  in  the  Gulf  of  Santorin. 

Notwithstanding  all  these  arguments  in  favor 
of  the  theory  of  a  volcanic  origin,  it  was  found 
necessary  to  abandon  it  entirely ;  because,  though 
it  would  account  for  some  of  the  facts,  thej-o  were 
many  others  which  it  could  not  explain  and  which 
could  be  explained  by  anothor  theory.  It  was 
perfectly  satisfactory  so  far  as  the  rim  and  lagoons 
were  concerned  and  it  also  explained  why  the 
Ocean  near  by  should  bo  unfathomable,  which  at 
first  seemed  an  argument  in  favor  of  the  volcanic 
theory.     Mr.   Darwin,  after  considering  all  the 


% 


27 


ny  just  on  a  Icve 
lor lower?  These 
inco  the  peculiar 
of  these  islands 
t  imagined,  and  I 
at  thry  were  the 
When  it  was 
mg  in  supposing 
3at  depth,  in  the 
;oan,  up  from  the 
that  they  might 
some   submarine 
i  would  give  this 
it   indispensable 
peculiar  form? 
I  the  coiials  of  the 
iks  were  squaro 
ps  witli  flat  tops 
were  of  the  same 
ns,  the  same  as 
nfi  those  observed 
landfi,  the  term 
n  of   coral   out- 
was  thus  found 
ential;  but  that 
shape.     It  was 
his  form  dopead- 
le   bottam,    and 
ratcrSfthousands 
that  part  of  the 
the  cup-shaped 
'ed  with  corals 
Shetland  Islands 
of  Bengal,   are 
s  in  the    center 
u  may  sail  with- 
he  crater.  Now 
jasily  have  been 
»rt  of  this  theo- 
bier's   group  of 
i  with  a  lagoon 
oes  have  sprung 

ments  in  favor 
I,  it  was  found 
jecause,  though 
LCts,  thero  were 
ilaiu  and  which 
leory.  It  was 
im  and  lagoons 
ained  why  the 
lablc,  which  at 
of  the  volcanic 
ndcring  all  the 


difforont  facts  I  have  related,  observed  that  there 
were  in  some  cases  islands  which  had  this  same 
coralline  ring,  and  yet  were  not  volcanic  but  gra- 
nitic; and  yet  the  ring  of  coral  surrounded  a 
precisely  siinilur  lugoon. — How  was  this  to  be 
explained?  Again,  Flinders  discovered  a  mag- 
nificent reef— on  the  North-East  Coast  of  New 
Hollund  more  than  a  thousand  miles  in  length ; 
aud  he  sailed  for  more  than  three  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  and  yet  found  no  passage  through  that 
narrow  reef.  Instead  of  being  circular  or  oviil 
or  in  any  such  shape  it  was  parallel  to  the  Coast 
(if  New  Holland.  In  the  island  of  Nt-w  Cahjdo- 
nia,  which  is  granitic,  there  was  also  a  long  vidge 
of  coral  -lOO  miles  lung  and  prolonged  at  each 
end  under  the  water  beyond  these  limits  :  between 
the  coral  reef  and  the  shore  was  what  might  be 
c;illod  a  lagoon.  Ni>w  we  mu;.,  have  a  theory 
which  will  explain  these  facts.  Of  these  encir- 
cled islands,  as  Darwi.v  called  them — islands 
with  encircling  reefs  around  them — Vancouver's 
is  one  and  OtiUuMtc  is  another.  Here  we  have  a 
coral  reef  with  a  lagoon  inside.  In  the  figure  wo 
have  ^nsvn  a  socli<iii  of  one  of  tliese  encircled 
Islands. 


A 


\ 

* 

\ 
\ 

\ 

\  \ 

V 

\ 

5r 

"\ 

A  represents  the  island  in  the  centre;  c  and  l> 
ore  the  points  in  the  encircling  reef  upon  which 
grow  cocoa  trees,  Sac,  and  inside,  or  between  c 
and  /;  and  iho  sides  of  the  island,  ii  a  shallow  sea 
(•ommunicutiiig  with  the  ocean  ihrough  occasiona 
passages,  similar  to  ihosr*  met  with  in  the  lagoon. 
Now  it  was  a  rule  laid  down  by  Dampier  and 
other  navigators,  that  near  high  tind  bold  coasts 
we  shall  have  a  deep  sea;  while  along  gently 
sloping  coast*  tlie  soa  will  centiime  shallow  for 
some  distance  from  tho  sh(n'e.  It  was  therefore 
surprising  that  when  wo  had  an.  island  like  that 
rcproscntod  in  the  figure,  going  .lown  at  so  stoop 
aa  angle,  instead  of  deep  water,  we  find  it  shal- 
low. Go  two  or  three  miles  away,  and  still  the 
water  is  shallow,  and  wo  have  a  coial  bottom.  But 
go  beyond  the  reef,  and  down  goes  the  line  some 
thousand  foot.  It  is  obvious  lliut  the  coral  alone 
is  the  cause  of  the  shallow  water ;    and  we  must 

D 


account  by  means  of  the  coral  for  the  fact  that  nt 
a  distance  from  the  island,  instead  of  several  thou- 
sand feet  of  water,  as  we  are  entitled  to  expect, 
we  come  suddenly  to  a  bottom.  Now  in  what 
manner  can  these  aoophytcs,  which  cannot  live  at 
a  greater  depth  than  120  feet  below  the  water,  be. 
able  to  build  up  a  reef  two,  three,  four  or  more 
thousand  feet  high  from  the  bottom  ?  Because  the 
belief  of  Flinders  that  these  creatures  could  work 
in  the  deep,  dark,  cold  ocean  and  build  up  their 
structures  to  the  light  and  heat  is  proved  not  to  bo 
true ;  though  he  did  not  err  as  a  geographer  in  hi.s 
statements  rcspuctisg  these  bold  coasts. 

Dauwin  here  suggested  a  simple  liypothesii> 
which  clears  up  the  whole  difficulty.  Suppose  the 
coral  to  begin  to  grow  ai  c  or  d,  in  the  figure 
above  ;  and  suppose  these  points  at  that  lime  in- 
stead of  being  1500  or  2000  feet  deep,  to  be  within 
120  feet  of  the  surface,  the  sea  then  standing  at  u 
different  relative  level  from  that  which  it  occupies 
now.  In  short,  the  supposilio.q  of  a  sinking  down 
of  the  land  will  explain  il  all.  When  the  land  be- 
gan to  sink  the  corals  were  building  up,  as  is  their 
nature,  one  generation  forming  on  the  skeleton  ot 
the  other,  just  as  peat  grows  until  it  reaches  a 
thickness  of  a  hundred  or  more  feet ;  each  succes- 
sive generation  plants  itself  on  the  remains  of  the 
former.  So  with  corals  :  each  mass  forms  a  found- 
ation on  which  a  new  one  is  built.  As  I  have 
shown,  or  as  NicGolini  has  shown,  the  rate  of  sub- 
sidenee  in  the  Bay  of  Baiie  is  three-fourths  of  an 
inch  a  year.  Now  common  Corals  will  grow  up 
at  that  rate  ;  and  perhaps  two  inches  a  year  would 
bu  a  slow  gi'owth.  Let  me  observe  that  we  need 
only  show  that  the  greater  part  of  them  increase 
slowly  ;  though  passages  of  the  Red  .Soa  are  known 
to  have  been  filled  up  within  a  few  years.  This, 
however,  may  be  easily  explained,  because  the 
waves,  ifcc,  may  have  thrown  up  sand  and  thus 
filled  these  passages.  But  the  common  growth  ef 
the  coral  is  slow.  Indeed  Ehrenberg  thinks  that 
some  of  the  species,  as  the  Meandrina,  are  as  old 
as  the  most  ancient  trees  of  Europe,  some  of  which 
are  three  or  four  thousand  years  old.  Decan- 
DOLLE  has  shown  that  some  yews  and  other  trees 
are  two  thousand  years  old,  and  some  still  more 
ancient.  So  Khrenberg  thinks  that  many  of  these 
corals  in  the  Red  Sea  are  several  thousand  years 
of  age.  But  the  vigor  of  their  growth  depends 
upon  the  warmth  and  carbonate  of  lime  that  readies 
them. 

Now  we  may  suppose  the  land  to  be  sinking' 
down  gradually  as  the  corals  are  building  up. — 
What  is  the  consequenca  ?      Instead  of  sinking 


fJown  with  tho  land,  the  coral 


,.,•,,.  .        •    -  -   —•"■8  W'"  grow  up  l)v 

Zn.l  7^'""  '"•"''^  -—Jus.  as  one  ,L. 
,       munt  of  ,ho  Tempio  of  Jupiter  Sorapis  was  li  t 

upoy  oothor.  which  had  sunk  six  fLt  be  We 
evCof.hoModiterranoan.     And  when  those  co! 
rals  como  to  the  surface  and  can  rise  no  higher 

cwave.th.nthrow    up   calcareous   sand   !pon 
h^.a„dforn.arid,easi„tho,a,oons.     k^ 
nle  the  corals  arc  thus    risin,  up,  the    ,„ass  „,. 
uayB  gannng  :n  hi«ht  above  its    original  base  and 
yet  rcnaunng  in  other  resppots   in  the  same  posi- 
non,  u  ,s  different  with  th«  land  :  every  inchthut 
U  s.nks  ,s  irrecoverably  lost,  and    the  distance  be- 
comes greater  and  greater  from  tho  island    to  the, 

reef  Ifthe.sland  sinks  down,  it  diminishes  in 
--above  the  water;  but  tho  reef  remains  as  it 
was,  (though,  from  its  slight  inclination  inward.,  it 
may  be  a  very  little  aff.cted,)  till  at  last  the  island 

All  the  land  disappears,  and  tho  island  becomes  a 

per  ect^.,.,,,„a  if  tl.  subsidence  still  goes  on 
the  lagoon  w.ll  acquire  ronsidemblo  depth^  This 
theory  also  is  as  satisfactory  in  explaining  the  lar- 
Tier  reef  as  m  accounting  for  encircled  islands  la 
Eoon^  ovatlols.  Let  us  take  the  following  dia- 
gram as  representing  a  barrier  reef  on  the  coast  of 
Australia : 


28 


I  "Mght  hero  to  say  that  corals   will   not  m,w 
-o  near  the  shore,  in  consequence  of  the  snd':^ 

^^carrje     thhher  by  steams  and  carried  upi:J 
waves      It  .«  only  ,n  clear,  salt    water   that    Ihey 

''     ;  ^'l'^  "''""  l'»'-^«"«    them.     On   the   other 

because  the  sea  .s  therv  too  deep.  Just  as  only  a 
rng  or  zone  around  .€tna  and  TenerilTo  is  inhl 
'^-1  ••yhun.an  beings,  because  on  one  side    is  the 

-and  on  the  other  volcanic  ashes,  &e-so  is  i 
vvuh  these  corals,  which   grow    cn,,yi„.„J„: 
-ne  at  a  certum  distance  from  the  land.     As  tho 
;^''-d   go..  Wown,    the  corals    build    up,  and  w^ 
Wnothingleftbntthelagoon.     WehaVeisland 
a   on  an  mtennediate  state,  as  Tahiti   and  Ga  J 

!   .7      7'  ""'  "'  "'"•''  »'"-''--'  »™  perfect 
n^.     ^Wtenths  of  them  have  arrived  at  th 


Here  the  land,  instead  of  going  do.-.,   abn.wly 
to  the    sea,  has    a  gentle    slope.     \S  l.en  the  'reef 
began  to  grow  at  d,  suppose  the  land    stood  1,000 
feet  higher  t.ian  now  ;  the   level  of  the   sea  would 
then  be  cc.     But  as  the  bed    went  down,  the"  f 
would  be  raised  1,000  feet,  or  from  d  to  ;,  and     f 
would  represent  the  lev«l  of  the  s.a.     But  as  the 
d,  tance/g.  .«  greater  than  c  d,  it  i.  obvioHs  that 
the  higher  up  towards  the  surface  the  reef  be  built 
so  much  faster  must    the    land   bo   instantly  re- 
treating;  and  the  rate  at  which  this  will  go  on    is 
in  proportion  to  the  anglo  of  descent.     If  at  ah  an- 
gl-  o,  30°   one  foot  in  vertical  hight  bo   lost,  the 
Cha.::e  in  distance  will  be  about  thirty  feet      But 
ma  gently  sloping  coast  every  foot   in   hight  mea- 
sures a  vast  number  of  yards;  and  tho   land  will 
retreat  at  a  greater  rate.     Thus  the  i^airier  reef  is 
at  a  consid.r..,b!r  distance  from  the  coast-iiO   30 
and  sometimes  70  miles  off.  ' 


^«00   fl.et  Ingh.  and  D  a  shoal  i„  the   sea,   when 

cisthesoalevel.Nowifthecoralgrow    nb    h 

-  ands  as  they  sink  gradually  until  it  be  2000  fee 

nek,  we  sha  I  have  attols  at  ,he  summits.  If  th. 

P  1- washed,  so  that  the  corals  will  not  grow  a 
•"gwilbefonued,   and  gr«w  up,  a^d    weLl 
have  a  lagoon  ;  A   will   become^n  «nciried  fs 

";1  for   ages,  until  it  is   submerged,  and  thn  the 
r.sing  coral  will  f„r,n  a  lagoon.     So  that  this  la 

fj;  ''''^'  ^^^"y  -/>--«'.' «  sunken  L^^^ 

Ih.s  may  be  seen   at  Tahiti,  in  Gam'.ier's  group' 

n      in   the  Dangerous    Archipelag.^an  a  ea     f 

000  m.  esin  one  direction,  and  COO  in  tho  other 

ustd,m..rencesinleveIofso.ast.narea.     Take 
"y   continent  containing  a   thousand  mountains 
and  liow  verv  pro'if  „  A\cr  .  '""luins, 

*Liy  grtat  a  ditTerence    will  tbero  l,„  i 

-een   the  elevation  of  the   din;.rentZ^^^^ 

,W^.  a  d.fi,r„ee  between   the  high  and  r;- 
A.'d    what   an   amount  of  subsidence  mu  .  /i 

place    efore  they  are  all  so  sunk  as  than:!'? 
see  only  the  topmost,  upon  the  same  level .'  and  ye 

t..th,s  are  we  ledlythe  theory  of  subsidenc;^: 
should  we  be  terrified  or  frightened  out  of  2 
sound  theory  by  contemplating  the  vas.ness  ofZ 
results  to  which  it  leads. 

I  may  ,.,  well  r^enfon  that  this  theory  of  subsi- 
dence  was  not  invented  for  the  purpose  of  explah 
>"^  these  phenomena.     Long  before  D.a.y^Z 


i 


29 


will    not   grow 

of  the  sand  and 
[I  carried  up  hj 
ator   that    thoy 

O"  tho  other 
vhy  from   land, 

•Tust  us  only  a 
^rilTo  is   inhab- 
me  side   is  tho 
,  &c — nn  is  it 
y  in   a  narrow 
land.     As  tho 
J    up,  and  wo 
'^ehaveislandi 
I'ti   and  Ganj- 
"r,  arc  perfect 
Trircd  at  thig 


ni  an  island 
'  sea,  when 
rrow  on  both 

be  2000 feet 
mits.  If  the 

not  grow,  a 
i   we   shall 
ncircled  is- 
nJ  then  tho 
lilt  this  la- 
'■mountain. 
"'■'»  group, 
an  area  of 
tho  other. 
'B  beoij  th« 
ea-     Taka 
mountains, 
ere  be  bc- 
Jmniits. — 
nd  low  J — 
"Uit  tako 
t  we  shall 
I  ■'  and  yet 
'ence;  nor 
lut  of  any 
I'ss  of  the 

of  subsi. 
I^oxplain- 
wiN  had 


il 


maAo  his  examinations  of  iheso  corai    islands,  in 
J 835, 1  published  my  opinion  upon  this  point,  that 
the  sinking  down  of  the  Pacific  might  be  m  excess: 
that  its  depression  might  be   greater  than  its  up- 
heaval.    For   in  no  other  way   could  wo  expluin 
how  such  a  multitude   of  islands  should  exist  f.i>t 
Rt  a  level,  and  now  more   than  (50    feet  above  the 
snrfai^e.     Hondt>r*oi.'s    Wand    is    about  «0    feet 
above,  and  the  Tonga  islands  of  Capt.  Cook,  are 
about  20  or  30  feet.     Tho    theory,    then,  was  not 
made  for  the  purpo^>e  of  fitting  the  facts-lhough 
it  is   a  perfectly    legitimate  reason   for  adopting  a 
theory,  that  you  find  it  will  explain  all  the  known 
phenomena  which  no  other  theory  will  explain.-- 
Still,  it  is  somewhat  more  satisfactory  if  tho  prin- 
ciple was  not  fonned  expressly  to  suit  the  fuels  of 
the  case.     I    argued  that  if  there   was  as  equal 
amount  of  upheRval   and  depression— stspposing  a 
motion  of  oscillation— a  movement  up  as   well  as 
down— to     tako    place,    large    masses   of    coral 
-J  will  be  raised  ubuve  tho  level  of  the  sea ;  and  tlmt, 

1  unless  we  assume,  that  the  downward  movement  is 

in  excess  wc    arw    impelled  to  conclude  the  coral 
would  not  have  remained  on  the  level.     For  if  it 
sink  30  feet  in  a  century,  the  coral  would  grow  up 
I  in  tl  It  time  30  f\:et :— if  it  rose  ten  feet  we  should 

then  find  the  solid  ground    of   the  coral  ten  foet 
b;gher  up.  If  you  reflect  you  will  see  that  it  is  quite 
s^  impossible  to  have  so  vast  anunober  of  islands  just 

fon   a  level   without  supposing   the    sinking  to  be 
slightly  in  excess  ;  and  when  you  iind  that  this  will 
explain   tke  formation  of  attols  and   encircled  is- 
lands, you  must  be  skeptical  if  you  reject  th<?  evi- 
dence in   favor  of  it;  especially  when  it  is  ascer- 
tained that  in  Greenland  the  land  is  settling— that 
there  is  9k  small   .iubsidence  in  the  Bay  of  Baiie— 
at  the  mouth  of  tie  Indus,  and  along  parts  of  the 
coast  of  South  America.     But  what  shall  we  say 
when  we   are  forced  to   conclude    that,  not    only 
must  there  have  been  a  sinking  down  of  the  floor  of 
the  ocean  to   bring  all   its  mountains  to  the    ame 
hight,  but  that  all  must  have  gone  down  so  grad- 
ually as  never   to  sink  one  hundred  and   ttcenty 
feet  at  once  1     For  if  there  had  ever  been  a  fall  «f 
120  feet  the  corals  never  more  would  have  grown  ; 
all  would  have  perished,   and  no  new  ones  would 
snring  up.     The  whole  process  of  subsidence  then 
must   have  gone  on  at  a    very   gradual   rate— not 
more  than  a  few  yards  at  any  one  timo. 

But  when  islands  are  rising  (and  wo  find  that  a 
large  proportion  of  the  islands  in  these  seas  are 
volcanic  islands,  or  that  in  some  part  of  them  are 
volcanoes  in  active  operation,)  in  this  case  we 
have  coral    reefs,  but   they  do   not  encircle  tho 


islands ;  but  wo  shall  have  a  formation  called  by 
Darwin, /rJn^tn;?  »f<'/«;  reefs  flinging  the  shore 
as  near  as  the  soophytes  could  live.  There  is  a 
small  island  oil'  Sumatra  overspread,  at  all  highu 
from  the  coast  to  200  or  300  feet  above,  with  coral 
sli'>Us  of  tho  tridachna.  At  tho  sumo  time  this 
ui.heaval  ims  not  carried  tho  island  as  fai  above 
as  it  must  before  have  In^cn  below  the  level. 

Tke  coaslof  South  America  is  one  where  nocoral 
grows.     VVhy  it  is  that  looph^  tes  will  not  live  there 
is  not  perfiictly  explained,  any  mort*  than  why  none 
grow  in  the  Aikintic.    The  Atlantic  is  warm  enough 
and  has  all    the  necessary  conditions;  but  except 
on  the  borders  of  the  gulf-stream  no  coral  islands 
are  found  on  the  coast   situated  must  favorably  in 
the  tropical  region;  at  present  wo  can  no  more  ex- 
plain this  than   why  certain  plants  do  not  grow  in 
the  United  States;  why  roses  are  not  indigenous 
in  the  Southern  hemisphere,  .fee.     But  in  the  geo- 
graphical distribution  of  plants  the  Author  of  Na- 
ture has  given  certain  laws  ;  and  so  with  the  zoo- 
phytes.    I'hey  do  not  flourish  on  the  Atlantic  coast. 
The  coast  of  South  America  is  a  coast  of  upheaval 
so  far  as  wccan  j-idge.     There  are  volcanoes  here, 
snd  animals  and  shells  are  found  at  various  bights. 
Yet  there  are  no  coral  islands.    Then  in  Gambler's 
group,  in  Tahiti  and  tho  Friendly  Islands  and  ia 
the  Diingerous   Archipelago  are  attols  which  have 
fiat  tops ;  here  we  suppose  there  were  stationary 
periods   when    the    lagoons   had  time  to   fill   up. 
Then  in  the  Navigators'  and  in  Cook's  island  tho 
oscillating  movement  causes  attols   and  upraised 
reefs.     Then  in  another  region,  in  Sullivan's  Island 
and  the  new  Hebrides— fur  a  bog  way  from  North 
West  to  South-East,  the  upward  movement  is   in 
excess.     In  New  Caledonia  we  find  an  example  ©f 
an  excess    in  subsidence.     Then    in   tho    volcanic 
isl»nas,  Java  and  Sumatra,  there  is  a  great  line  of 
upheaval  under  which  the  beds  of  coral  and  recent 
shells  are  raised  higher. 

One  of  the  most  rensarkable  ridges  of  attols  i» 
in  the  Laccadive  and  Maldivc  Islands.  For  seve- 
ral hundred  miles  in  extent  you  find  a  series  or 
circular  assemblage  of  islets  all  of  coral,  some  o 
them  30,  40  or  50  miles  in  diameter.  So  you 
may  trace  them  along  llie  coast  of  Africa  and  th« 
Red  Sea,  and  go  over  a  large  area  2,000  or  3,000 
miles  from  North  to  South,  and  from  7,000  to 
8,000  from  East  to  West,  and  find  tlie  same  alter- 
nations. 

It  is  often  a  subject  of  wonder  to  geologists  to 
trace  the  same  shells  in  different  countries.  Thus 
in  Siberia  and  Russia  Morchison  has  found  shells 
identical  with  those  in  England ;  and  tlie  same  spo 


30 


.  ics  as  the  CuiynphylUa  and  others  may  1)0  found 
iM  the  N'irth  of  Scotliuid  luid  in  this  Siato  of  Ncw- 
\'()rk.  IliM-Us  iiri!  met  containing  tliis  extinct  spe- 
cie.-* wiiti  fifiy  othoiM  ;  mid  they  may  bi;  traced  nt 
icu'it  t')  Tawa  iind  very  liUcly  to  tho  I'ocific  It  in 
II  matter  lor  wonder  and  marvel  that  thci:te  same 
Kpccie^j  should  ilourisii  over  so  huge  a  space  of 
the  gli.'oe  as  from  Siberia  to  Iowa :  yet  it  is  noth- 
ing to  th"  extent  over  wliich  masses  of  limpstonn 
!i;-c    now    forrr.in?.       But   if  you    penetrate  to  a 


little  dciith  nil  ilio  interstices  will  bo  ft  und  to  bfl 
fdled,  tho  carboniferous  limo  will  bo  found  as 
solid  as  any  limestone,  and  all  its  organic  texturii 
will  have  di.sajipeared  or  can  only  bn  discovered  by 
microscopic  cxatr;ination.  So  is  it  with  the  old 
rocks  ut  Trenton  and  Niagara  which  are  of  most 
minule  lexlure;  so  that  it  is  not  true  that  tho  ex' 
tent  of  tho  old  limestone  was  on  a.  grander  scalo 
than  what  is  now  exemplified  in  tho  present  state 
of  the  globe. 


LECTURE     V. 


ORIGIN  OF  COAL. 


In  speaking  of  the  different  strata  of  which  tho 
Rarth's  crust  is   composed — those  at  least  which 
;    contain  organic  remains — I  spoke   of  them  as  so 
many  volumes    of    History— as    so  many    monu- 
ments of  the  ancient   states   of  tho  globs  ;  and  of 
their  different  structures  as  being  so  many  leaves 
of  these  volumes.     All  that  lean  do  in  this  short 
course  of  lectures  is  to  take  down  at  random,  first 
one   and    then    another  of  these  volumes  and  en- 
deavor not  to  give  you  any  idea  of  the  contents  of 
the    whole    but  just  to  express  something  of.  the 
method  employed  in  the  attempt  to  deoiypher  these 
ancient  mpmorinls  of  ih'o  Ivarth's  History.     Now 
the  volume  which  I  intend  to  take  down  to-night  is 
that  which  we  term  the  Coal  funnntion;  and  I 
shall  speak  of  it  only  so  far  as  to  show  tho  reln- 
■  live  position,  and  tho   stateof  tho  different  periods 
when  they  wore  deposited  beneath  the  water. 

Now  when  I  ti«rm  ihii  formation  Coal,  I  merely 
moan  this  assemblage  of  strata  which  rests  on 
the  Older  Sandstone,  and  in  which  is  found  that 
valuable  fuel  we  cull  <-oa,l ;  and  although  the  quan- 
tity in  which  it  is  contained  is  very  small  in  eom- 
purison  with  the  bulk  and  volume  cf  tho  other 
8trata,  there  is  still  great  interest  and  importance 
attached  to  it.  We  see  that  in  going  from  the 
highest  to  tlie  lowest  beds  yet  discovered,  the 
coal  occujiies  quite  an  ancient  position — one 
indicating  a  formation  low  down  in  the  Sea — ns 
we  have  above  it  the  most  modern  formations.  We 
have  first  the  Post-riiocene,  ther.  the  Tertiary 
formation,  then  the  Chalk,  which  is  made  up  of 
calcareous  matter  formed  mostly,  at  least  in  Europe, 


from  decomposed    shells   and  coals  and  of  tho^o 
green  marls  which  ai-e  found  in  New  Jersey  and 
are  of  such  extensive  use  in  Agriculture;  then  we 
have  tho  Jura  limestone  or  Oolite,  in  which  also 
arc  masses  of  coral  like  tho  common  coral  reefs: 
below  this  are  two  other  groups,  of  which  I  shall 
not  speak  at  present,  and  lastly  wo  come  down  to 
the  Carboniferous  or  coal-bearing  stratum  which 
rests  upon  the  thick  sar.dstono   beds,  or   the  lime- 
stone containing  corals  and  which  like  ovwry  other 
formation  contains  species  of  animals,   shells  and 
plants   of  dificrent    .specie,  from    these    immedi- 
ately aniecedcnt  or    follo'.tin^.     Below  this  again 
we  see  limeston?    and   shale,  which   eiiter  most 
largely    into    the    structure    of  the   rucks  of  tha 
State  of  New-York  and   which  abound  in  fossils. 
Now  a  great  ch;*ngo  must  have  been  experienced 
before  the  coal  period,  when  tho    fossils  were  de- 
posited.    I   am    indel)te'd   to   Mr.    Soi'with,  an 
eminent  civil  engineer,  for  copies  of  some  models 
prepared  by  him  of  those  sections,  which  are  faith- 
ful and  accurate   representations    of  actual  locali* 
ties,  as  has  been  fully  v;'iifird  by   Dr.    BucktanD 
and  myself  in  examinations  which   wo    made    last 
spring.     The  tlifferent  .-trata  of  sandstone,    shalo 
and  congI«merafo  of  which  tho  carboniferous  for- 
mation is  composed,    arc  here  represented.     Tho 
sections  represent  facts  a«certained  in  cutting  per- 
pendicularly   through    the    Newcastle    coal     dis- 
trict.    They  are   not  hypothetical  but  are  founded 
upon   exact   measurement.     In    one  of  these  sec- 
tions you  see  the  dip  of  tho  beds  is  at  an  anglo  of 
2  0°,  while  the  sloyc  of  the  valley  is  -10°.     In  tho 


HMfHP 


31 


other  the  dip  is  .'iO"  and  the  slope  of  tho  valloy  in 
the  same  direction  is  20".     In    these   two  cases, 
therefore,  the  relation  of  iho  slope    of  the    valley 
and  tho   dip  of  tho   beds    is    reversed.     In  both 
cases,  also,  the  s^opeof  the  valley  and  dip    of  tho 
boda    are    to   iho    South.     To  those  who  are  not 
acquainted  with  these  technical    tern»  1  may   sny 
that  tho  deviation  from  a  horizontal    i)Iana   of  the 
bods  ia  called  tho  dip;  while  the  strike,  ai  it  is 
called,  is  the  extension  of  the  strata  in  a  direction 
at  right  angles  to  tho  dip.     In    this    case,    as   tho 
dip  is  to  the  South,  the  strike  must  bo  from  East 
to  West.     The  iley.ures  of  the  valleys  depend  on 
thoir   inclination    relatively  to  tho  dip  ;  and  these 
two  sections  cut  through  beas  of  coal   and   shale 
and  sandstone— the  shale  being  indurated    day — 
are  illustrations  of  cases  in    which  the  two  strata 
come  up  to  the  surface  accordini:  to  the  various  re- 
lations of  the  slope  of  thi^  vnllcv  and    the   dip  of 
the  bed.     It   is    a    rule  among  miners  that  when 
the  dip  of  the  beds  is  less  steep  than  the    slope  of 
the  valley  in  the  same  direction,  then  the    V's,  as 
tliey  are  termed,  will  point  upwards,  those  formed 


exemplification  this  year  of  tho  two  cascij  alludedl 
to — when  in  ilie  coal  of  tho  same    valleys  tho  V'»f 
in  some  cases  pointed  one  way,   and  in  tho  othen 
in  the  opposite — th(!  dip  and  slope  being  both  to- 
wards the  south.     There  is  nothing  more  singular! 
or  which  has  struck  me  so  forcibly  in  respect  to  th©  j 
coal  fields  of  this  i;ountry  as  their  close  resemblance  i 
to  I'.ioso  of  tho  north  of  Europe,  and  of  England  in  i 
particular.     I  have  traveled  on    the  north    side  of  | 
the  Alps  towards  the  south,  and  have  been    a»ton-  j 
iihed  to  find  minerals  of  fossil  of  entirely  distinct  j 
genera  from  those  met  with  in  the  Pyrcnei-s.    Nor 
have  the  chains  of  mountains   any  thing  to  do  with 
this  remarkable  change — for  the  beds  were  formed 
at  tho  Lsuttom  of  tho  sea  before  the  mountains  ex- 
isted.    Observing   thi«  great  change,  then,  in  the 
short  passage  of  a  few  hundred  miles,  ''  seums  to 
mt-  most  surprising  that  in  passing,  at  the  distance 
of  three  or  four  thousand  miie«,    from  England  to 
tho    Apalachian  chain  in  Virginia,  we  should  find 
the  coal  measures    the  same    as  those   we  left  be- 
hind, represented  in  the   red    sandstone,  and  con- 
taining while  grit  and  slaty  shales,  and  clays  not 


by  tho  newer  beds   appearing  in  a  sui)orior   posi-    slaty,  and  beds  of  conglomerate  contaming  quarts 
tion    and   extending    higher  up  the  valley.     But  }  pebbles 
when  the  case  is  reversed,  and  the  dip  of  tho  beds 
is   steeper  than  the  slope    of   the  valley,  then  tho 


V's  point  downwards  and  those  formed  of  the 
older  beJs  appear  uppermost.  These  rules  may 
often  be  of  great  practical  service  in  many  cases. 
For  example,  suppose  a  miner  first  to  begin  his 
operations  in  one  valley  with  the  ati^ucture  of  which 
ho  is  familiar.  If  he  should  sink  his  shaft  through 
the  formations  above  he  would  come  to  the  coal 
which  is  below.  But  suppose  one  unacquainted  with 
these  rules  which  I  have  been  explaining,  to  go  to 
another  valley ;  and  in  England  hemighteasily  go  to 
such  a  valley ,  Cor  these  cases,  as  I  said,  are  not  hypo- 
thetical. Ho  might,  cantinuing  ajong  the  same 
side  of  the  hills  as  he  had  seen  in  tho  other  volleys, 
where  he  observed  the  ssLxna  out-cropping,  a=i  it  is 
termed,  of  the  coal  seams,  suppose,  reasoning  from 
his  former  experience,  that  he  might  begin  his 
workings  in  the  bed  at  the  higher  part  of  the  val- 
ley with  the  expectation  of  coming  down   to  the 


It  is  generally  admitted  by  geologists  that  all 
that  fuel  which  tee  call  coal  is  of  vegetable  ori' 
din.  If  there  has  been  any  dispute  with  regard 
to  this,  it  was  settled  when  a  portion  of  the  New- 
castle coal  some  years  ago  was  submitted  to  a 
microscopic  examination.  After  cutting  off  a  slice 
so  thin  that  it  should  transmit  light,  it  was  found 
that,  in  many  parts  of  the  pure  and  solid  coal  in 
which  geologists  had  no  suspicion  that  they  should 
bo  able  to  detect  any  vegetable  structui-e,  net  only 
were  the  annular  rings  of  the  growth  of  several 
kinds  of  trees  beautifully  distinct,  but  even  tho 
medullary  rays,  and,  what  is  still  more  remarkable, 
in  some  ca>os  even  the  spiral  vessels  could  be  dis- 
cerned. But  besides  these  proofs  from  observing 
a  vegetable  structure  in  the  coal  itself,  there  has 
been  found  in  the  shales  accompanying  it,  fern 
leavos  and  branches  as  well  as  other  plants,  and 
when  we  find  the  trunks  of  trees  and  the  bark  con- 
verted into  this  same  kind  of  coal  as  we  find  in  the 


other  bed.  But  he  would  be  disappointed,  as  you  |  great  sclid  beds,  no  one  will  dispute  the  strong 
will  readily  see  by  observing  that  tho  uppermost  j  evidence  in  favor  of  tho  vegetable  origin  of  this 
bod  is  lowest  down  in  the  valley,  and  tho  lower  bed  j  coal.  If  wo  find  a  circumference  of  bark  sur- 
is  the  highest  up.  This  you  can  easily  trace  with  \  rounding  a  cylindrical  mass  of  sand,  we  know  that 
your  eye  upon  these  sections.  An  acquaintance  |  it  has  been  a  hollow  tree  filled  up  with  sand,  nor 
with  these  rules  and  their  application  is  of  the  great-  can  there  be  any  doubt  that  the  coal  is  formed  of 
est  importance  to  those  speculating  in  mining  trans-  vegetable  matter.  No  less  than  three  hundred 
actions,  In  the  coal  field  of  Pennsylvania,  to  which     species  of  plants  have  been   well   determined  by 


I  shall  presently  allude,  near  Pottsville,  I  saw   an 


botanists,    some  of  whom   have   devoted  a  great 


v^'' 


32 


pan  of  ihiiir  lives  lo  this    study.     From  thin  it  i« 
to  Ijo  inffiicd  thiit  llio   carboniferous   formation  of 
Kuroiio  and  Am(  riou  is  iniiJ<!  up  of  comparativoly 
recent  iilnnlt.     I    will    ulludo  lo  tiireo  or  four  of 
tho  most  iioi-uli:ir  facts  ihiU  lead  to  tliis  conclu.^ion. 
In  tho  lirsl  jdacw  tin;  bongln  und  loiivos  of  Ferns 
lire  tho  most  frc(piontly  imd  strikingly  nn  t  in  Ame- 
rica as  well  as  in  Kurope.     So  porleetly  Imvo  they 
been  presorv^'d  thait'.iere  can  bo  no  doubt  that  they 
iiro  really  fcrna  ;  and  in  aome  cases  oven  their  in- 
(lorcsccnco  has  bivcii  preserved  at  the  back  of  iho 
loaves.     Wlien^  wo  havi'  not  the  flowers  and  prints 
remaining  wo  have  found  it  possible  to  distinguish 
the  diller.-nt  flpccies  of  fo.-;sils   and   ancient  ferns 
by  attending  to  the  veiningof  the  leaves.     At  least 
one  hundn'4  specie^-  an-;   determined  in  this  way. 
Tho   mo-?t  numoidiia  of  ilieso   vet,'<.tablo   veinings 
arc  those  which  have  been   called  Sigillnria — or 
Tree  Ferns.     Their  stems  are  found  to  bo  (luted 
vertically  and  in  the  flutings  are  little  stars — as  it 
^vcre — each  t>f  which  indicates    the  place    where 
tho  leaf  was    attached:  and  it   is  evident,  as   M. 
Adohmik  LuoNGNiART  has  shown,   that  they  are 
recent  Tree    Kerns.     One   argument  for  believing 
tliis  is  that  althouqh  the  bark  of  these  trees    is  so 
well  mai'l-:cd  that  forty-two  species  have  been  des. 
rribed,  yet  there  is  never  found  any  leaf  attached ; 
while  we  have  in  tho  same  beds  loose  leaves  in  abun- 
dance which  have  no  trunks.  The  natural  inference 
is  that  they  must  have  belonged  to  the  arborescent 
terns  ;  as  for  instance  the  bGction  named  Caulop- 
leris  is  admitted  by   all  to  have   belonged  to   this 
species.     This  fact  is  also   important  because   tho 
tree  ferns  and  especially  the  Caulopteris  arc  now 
known  bo  exclusively    the    inhabitants  of  a  warm 
iu\A  humid  climcite— much  more  hot  and  moist  than 
in  th«sc  parts  of  the  globe  where  coal  now  abounds. 
For  we  find  coal  not  only   in    England   and    Nova 
Scotia  but  as  far  north  as  Melville's    Island  and 
]5affin's  Bay,  in  a  clim-ite  where  the  growth  of  such 
fern  plants  is  dwarfish  and  stinted.     It  is  evident 
that  when   these    vegetables    existed   there   must 
have  been  a  warmer,  and  probably   a    more  equa- 
ble climate  than  now   even    in  warmer  latitudes. 
For  even  in  iho  tropical  zon(!s,  where  wo  meet 
•with    large    devclopcraents   of   tie    CauloptcrU, 
their  general  gru\Mh  is  much   smaller  than  these 
fossil  remains.     S.)  is  it  with  all  tU  plants  of  the 
fir  liibe  ;  many  of  them  of  which  we  find  fossil  re- 
mains in  the  coal  now  exist  only  in  tlw  Southern 
latitudes,  whci-e  no  coal  is  found.  The  Annicaria 
we  now  find  in  Chili,  ar.d  other  warm  parts  of  the 
globe,  but  never  at  th.;  North,  wli.Jre  its   fossils 
abound  in  coal.     Tlio  gigantic  plants  of  the  Equi- 


citacfom  tube  iiro  al«o  found  to  be.  much  smaller 
now  in  hot  laliuidcs  lli:in  are  their  fossil  remains. 
This  vvoulil  lead  to  the  inference  that  the  climalo 
in  Nmtheni  Liiiludes  was  then  much  warmoi-  and 
more  moist  lluui  it  is  now  in  any  part  of  the  globe. 
Tho  spmo  thin;;  i<  made  evident  by  a  comparison 
of  thesn  fossil  Sigillaria  withlhoi^o  whiih  now  at- 
tain lliL'ir  greatest  si/e  in  the  islands  of  the  racilic. 
I  li  IV.'  also  found  several  plums,  as  tho  Attero- 
•phyllitcs  in  the  Apaluchian  chain,  this  ycnr,  which 
1  have  also  from  Novu-Scolia  and  Europe,  and 
which  cannot  certainly  be  referred  lo  any  living 
families.  Tliese  all,  however,  boiipeak  a  terreslriul 
vegetation,  though  occiifioually  found  mi.\ed  with 
marliu'  shells  n:id  coruls. 

Another  class  of  fossils  common  in  coal  shales 
is  the  /(7)ttZt>u'c?i(icrt— somewhat  allied  in  form  to 
th(!  mod-in  lycopodiums, or  white  mosses.  Though 
the  mosses  of  tho  present  day  are  never  more  than 
mere  sln-ubs  even  in  the  warmest  regions,  yet  at 
tho  carboniferous  period  they  attained  an  onor- 
mo\is   developcment,  being  50,  (iO  or  even  70  feel 

high. 

There  have  been  two  theories  to  explain  how 
these  plants  could  have  been  can-icd  into  the  gea, 
estuaries  or  lakes,  and  drawn  beneath  tho  water 
aud  accumulated  in  the  strata  so  as  to  form  coal. 
One  of  them  asserts  that  tho  plants  must  have 
been  drifted  and  buried  in  the  water,  since  wo 
find  them  intercollated  between  ditierent  slates  or 
shales  :  just  as  plants  lie  between  the  leaves  of  a 
botanist's  herbarium  and  are  pressed  together,  so 
have  thcKO  ferns  been  found  flattened  between  tho 
seams  of  shale.  They  have  been  carried  from  tho 
place  where  they  grew,  drifted  out  to  a  certain 
dijtance,  water  lodged  and  sunk  in  tho  mud  and 
other  strata  depo»itcd  above  them,  so  as  to  form 
this  intercollation  between  the  different  leaves  of 

clay. 

Bur  n.any  believed,  from  seeing  the  root3,that  the 
plants  grew  on  the  spot  where  wo  now  find  them. 
But  when  we  come  to  observe  that  these  rooM  ter- 
minate ii;  diflercnt  strata,  it  will  seem  evident  that 
they  were  carrii  i  down,  sunk  and  stuck  in  tho 
mud  as  snags  are  now  in  the  Mississippi.  In  tho 
quartzose  sandstone  at  St.  Etienne,  near  Lyons:, 
are  found  a  vast  number  of  these  Lepidodendra 
and  SigiUuria.  No  one  apparently  can  doubt  that 
these  drift.'d  to  their  present  position,  and  that 
ihey  wei(>  ufierwards  covered  with  sand  brought 
down  by  river?.  Many  appearances  favor  this  hy- 
poUiesi.,.  Sumetiinea  wo  find  b.edrt  of  moi'ine 
shells,  then  vegetable  matter  and  then  a  mixiuiv 
of  fresh  water  and  marine  ghclis. 


ds 


But  though  thodo  facts  may  Iw  thus  expluinfid  tlio 
difcovories  that  aro  being  muilo  lead  gp.ilogiutii  l« 
<;i)mo  round  nii)n'  aiul  inoro  to  tlu!  opiJO-,!!^  -."iDW  of 
tho  case — V.i  tliu  hyin)ihc.ti!»  which  r.  fcrs  thf  gmwlh 
of  large  hcilii  cf  coal  to  tho  increase  on  tho  spot — 
fifior  tlir  inanniT  of  jicut,  as  it  is  seen  iti  cold  and 
dark  climali-.s.  This  rniiy  uppcar  contradictory  to 
what  I  sail  whh  regard  to  a  cliango  of  chnvite 
Binco  the  cnrbonifcrous  era :  but  it  ia  not  noccs- 
narily  so.  Tho  opinion  of  Wekneu,  confirmed  by 
llie  spectilalions  of  RRONCtMAiiT,  led  mo  to  1)0- 
licvc  contrary  to  my  early  impressions,  that  by  far 
the  gnmur  part  of  the  coal  had  grown  in  the  spot 
whuro  it  is  found.  Accciimulatinjj  like  peat  on 
tho  land,  tlio  land  must  have  beon  subn'.crgrd  again 
and  again  lo  allow  tho  strata  of  sand  nnd  mud  to 
bo  supoiimp oicd  as  wo  now  (ind  them. 

In  excavating  for  coal  at  Balgray  near  Glas- 
gow, in  1{;35,  many  upright  trees  were  found  with 
their  roofs  tonninaling  in  a  bed  of  coal;  and  only 
tbroi?  ycarj  iv;o,  in  cutting  a  section  of  tho  Bolton 
Railroad  in  Lanc!i.<liiro,  eight  or  ten  trees  were 
found  ia  a  voriioal  position ;  they  wcro  referable 
to  tho  Li'piilodcndra  spc:vcfland  allied  to  the/.y- 
eopodiumx,  or  club  mossos.  All  wcro  within  40  or 
iiO  feet  of  each  other,  and  some  oflhcmwerc  15 
foot  in  circumforcnco  at  tho  bottom.  The  roots 
spread  in  all  <lirections  and  reached  beds  of  clay, 
nnd  also  sjiread  out  into  tho  scam*  of  (-oal. — 
Thero  is  no  doubt  that  these  trees  grew  where 
thoy  arc  found  a!id  that  tho  roots  aro  in  their  orig- 
inal position.  The  acani  of  coal  has  possibly  been 
formed  of  tho  leaves  vvl  ieh  fell  from  tho  troes. 
This  is  n  cingular  fact:  that  just  below  tho  coal 
seam  and  abovu  tho  covering  of  tho  roots  v.as 
found  Hii''-^  than  a  busliel  of  the  LcplUistrohaH — 
a  *■  ■•'  -int  unlike  tlio  elonguti.'d  (^^(Mjr  the  fir  tree. 
V.  '.  '"n  imagined  thai  the  Lcpidustro- 

hus\.^.  -'t  oi  tho  Lcpldodendra;  but  here 

they  ar<  ^sith  other  trers. 

Under  t--  .  oeam  of  coal  iii  \Va!es  is  funnd  the 
fire  clay — a  <;andy,  blue  mud,  almu'.iding  in  the 
plants  called  isiigmaria.  First  is  tin.'  seam  of 
coal,  then  the  fire  clay,  then  another  .S(-a)ji  of  c.ytal, 
and  then  tho  sand  stone.  In  one  part  of  tho  New- 
castle coal  field  about  30  spi^cies  of  Sigillaria 
wore  discovered:  tho  trunks  wore  two  or  three  feet 
in  diameter.  They  pierce  through  the  hand  in  a 
vortical  direction,  nnd  after  going  for  some  11  iect 
perpendicularly,  the  upper  part  bpiids  lound  hori- 
zontally, and  extends  laterally  into  the  pand, — and 
then  the.y  are  so  (latfennd  by  the  supi-'riiicumbent 
strata,  that  tho  opposite  barks  arc  forced  within 
half  au  inch  of  each  other.     Tho  (lutings  are  beau- 


tifully preserved  in  tho  flattened  horizontal  stemi. 
Hero  wo  hud  an  uncionl  forest  growing  in  a  bed  of 
clay — buried  in  somo    way  with  sawd  to  a  certain 
depth,   and    then    tho    uj^per  part    was   bent  and 
broken  ofll'  by  tho  water  current,  and  buried  in  lay- 
ers of  shale  and  sand.     Thero  aru  many  cases  of 
thi*  kind  in  Wales,  where  ilie  roots  of  tlio  trees  ev- 
idently preserve  their  original  position.  Mr.  LooAV, 
an    excellent    geoh)gist,   has    examined    no    less 
than  90  of  these  scams  of  coal  in  Wales.  They  are 
so  exciiedingly  thin  that  they  aro  of  but  littlo  value 
in  ancconomicallight — yet,  they  are  just  as  impor- 
tant for  geological  purposes,  as  if  they  were  thick 
strata.     Under  every  one  of  tho    90   ho  has  found 
the  lire  clay,   a  sandy  mud  containing  tho  plants 
calleil  SUgmaria.     It  was  discovered  years  ago 
that  this  lilt!  clay  existed  with  the  coal   mine  ;  but 
it  was  not  known  that  it  was  the  (loor  of  every  coal 
seam,  and  not  the  roof,  which  contained  this  plant 
in  a  jM'rfect  state.     Tho  Stigmaria  appears  in  tho 
under  clay  (to  use  the  term  ciTiployed  by  miners,)  a 
cylindrical  stem,   from  every  side  of  which  extend 
loaves — not  only  from  tho  opposite  sides — but  from 
i:very  side ;  they  appear  like  tubercles,  fitting  on 
as  by  ajoint.     They  radiate  in  all  directions  in  tho 
mud,  where  they  are  aot    flattened  like  tho  forns. 
Had  they  been  wo  might  have  had  leaves    in   two 
directions,  but   not  on  every  side.     These  plants 
rescmblo  the  Enphorbiaceas  in  their  structure,  and 
in  somo  respects  are  analogous  to   the   Coniferous 
or  fir  tribes.      In  their  whole  structure  they  are  dis- 
tinct from  all  living  genera  or  families  of  plants.— 
In  one  instance  a  dome -shaped   mass    was  found 
with  stems  and  leaves — some  of  the  branches  be- 
ing 20  or  30  feet  in  length  and  sometimes  longer. 
It  has  been  thought  by    Dr.  Buckland  and  other 
geologists,  that  these  plants  cither  trailed  along  in 
the  mud  at   tho   bottom    of   swamps,    or  to  have 
floated  in  lakes  like  the  modern  Siraliotes, 

After  Mr.  Loc.an  had  arrivedat  this  remarkable 
fact,  we  became  particularly  desirous  to  know  if 
tlie  same  fact  was  true  in  the  United  Slates.  When 
I  arrived  here  in  August,  I  had  no  idea  how  far  it 
was  true,  yet  it  was  known  tho  SHgmaria  did  oc- 
cur; and  my  fust  opportunity  to  inquire  into  the 
fact  was  at  Blossburgli,  in  the  Bituminous  field  in 
the  Noithern  part  «f  I'ennsylvania.  My  first  in- 
quiry of  the  geologist  was  whether  he  found  Stig- 
maria there.  I  was  answered  in  the  affirmative: 
and  on  asking  if  tke  plant  occurred  in  the  under 
clay,  he  said  wo  could  soon  settle  the  point.  Ho 
had  one  of  the  mii'cs  lifrhled  up.  nnd  l)ie  only  plant 
n:c  could  find  ill  /he  nnlei-  clay  was  this  Stigma 
ria  :  it  existed  in  abundance — its  leaves  radiatin 


•J»" 


34 


in  an  directions,  junl  as  in  Wales,  more  than  4000 
miloH  (lifitaiit.     The   name  cnilal  oppoaranco  wan 
prcscrvoci.     Iti  ilm  rodf  of  tho  cuiil  «cain  wore  spon 
dilTurant  spt'cios  of  furtis, — Sigillari   otul   Cala- 
tnitet,  just  as  in  North  Carolina  ami  in  Wulna. — 
Afterward*  anotiicr   opporttinily  orrurrod   in  tho 
Pottuvillo    n'gioM  (tf   Antliracito    nmi.     Professor 
RoDOEUS,    tiio  State  (ioologift,  who,  though  well 
acquainted  with  tlie  8trata  of  tlie  district,  was   as 
anxious    at  I  wnt  to  l<now  if  the  riilfi  wortld  hold 
good,    oxumined  lirst   at  I'ottsvillo  and    at    Mauch 
Chunk,  when  the  same  phenomena  were  ohserved. 
In  the  fir  st  coal  mine  wo  canio  io,tho  coal  had  all  been 
quarried  away  (for  tho  worli  wttaearrie<lon  in  open 
day)  and  nothing  hut  tho  cheeks  of  tho  mine  ro- 
Tnained.     The  bod.*,  as  they  have  been  horizontal, 
aro    now   not   voriic.al,  but  have  ^mw   through  an 
angle  of  u  little  more  ihaK  90",  and  turned  a  little 
over ;  80   that    what  is  now  tho   under  side  was 
originally  the  upper;    therefore  tho   cheek   on  the 
left  side  was  originally  the  lloor  of  the  mine.     Wo 
now  looked  at  the  lower  cheek;  and  the  first  thing 
wo  saw  was  tho  Stigraaria,   very  distinct;  on    the 
other  side,  but  a  little  way  oil',  were  ferns,  Sigilla- 
riete,   Calamites,  Asterophyllitcs,  but  no  Sfigma- 
ria.     So  it  was  at  Mauch  Chunk,  where  we  found 
one  30  feet  long  with  loaves  radiating  in  all  direc- 
tions.    At  this  place  there  is  a  bod   of  Anthracite 
nearly  60  feet  thick— a  magnificent  accumulation 
of  vegetable    matter,   to  which   there    is  nothing 
comparable  in  Europe.     Except  in  one  place  it  is 
perfectly  pure. 

It  has  now  been  ascertained  for  many  years  that 
Prof.  Eato.v  was  quite  correct  in  afhrming  the 
Anthracite  and  Bituminous  Coals  to  be  of  tho  same 
age.  This  h  shown  not  only  by  their  relative  po- 
sition with  regard  to  the  red  sand-stone,  but  from 
tlio  plants  found  in  both  being  identical. 

All  tho  coal  fields,  therefore,  maybe  regarded  as 
one  whole,  and  tho  question  will  occur.  How  did 
it  happen  that  the  great  (loar  was  let  d(,wn  so  as  to 
prevent  the  accumulation  of  coal  and  yet  plants  of 
BO  difToreni  textures  should  bo  found  in  it?  It  has 
been  suggested  that  these  plants  grew  in  swamps; 
and  it  is  possible  to  imagine  that  there  may  have 
been  morasses  fitted  only  for  tlio  growth  of  the 
species  of  plants  called  SHgmaria;  and  that  this 
marsh  filling  up,  this  and  tho  other  plants  became 


chango  is  constantly  goinjj  on  in  d  ifferent  parli  of 
Europe — the  same  transition  from  bogs  uiid  manhos 
to  a  soil  capable  of  supporting  various  great  trees 
is  taking  pliu-e,  and  then  the  ground  is  t^ubmerged; 
for  always,  again  and  again,  wo  must  refer  to  thU 
b«bsid»!nce  of  the  soil. 

Many  of  you,  I  suppose,  have  srrn  the  moittss 
on  lied  tho  Great   nismal  in  North  Carolina  and 
Virginia;    and  you  have  probably  had  an  opportu- 
nity, as  I  have,  of  crossing  tho  northern  extremity  of 
it  on  a  railway  supported  by  piles,  from  Norfolk  tu 
Weldon.      This  is  no  less    than   forty  miles  from 
noith    to   south,  and   twenty   from   casi    lo  west, 
covered  entirely  with  various  forest  trees,  under 
which  is  a  great  quantity  of  moss ;    tho  vagetalio  n 
is  of  every  variety  of  «i/.o  from  common  creep' >g 
mojis  to  tall  cypresses  130  foot  high.      Tho  water 
surrounds  tho  roots  of  these  trees  for  many  months 
in  the  year.      And  this  ii  a  most   singular  fact  to 
one  who  has  traveled   only  in  l^iiropo,  that,  as  is 
the  case  in  the  United  Slates,  trees  should  grow  ih 
the  water,  or   sunounded   to  a.   certain    hight  by 
water,  and  yet  not  bo  killed.     This  Great  Dismal 
was  explored  some  years  since  by   Mr.  Edmund 
RuFFiN,  author  of  a  valuable  Agricultural  Journal. 
He  first  calls  attention  to  tho   fact  thai  a  greater 
portisn  of  the  vait  morass  stands  higher  than  tho 
ground  that  surrounds  it ;  it  is  a  great  spongy  mass 
of  peat,  standing  some  seven  or  eight  feet  higher 
than  its  banks,  as  was  ascertained  by  careful  mea- 
surements when  the  railroad  was  cut  through.     It 
consists  of  vegetable  matter  with  a  slight  admix- 
ture of  earthy  substance,  as  in  coal.      Tho  source 
of  peat  i  1  Scotlaird  is  that  one  layer  of  vegetation 
is    not  decomposed   before    nnolher   forms.       So 
is    it    'n  Chili,  Patagonia  and  Terra  del  Fuog*'. 
Thus  also  is  it  in  diftbrent  parts  of  I'urope,  in  tho 
Falkland  Inlands,  as  Dauwin  has  shown.     Thus, 
too,  is  it  in  tho  Great  Dismal,  whero  tho  plants  and 
trees  arc  different  from  tliose  of  the  peat  in  New- 
Y«rk.     It  is  found  on  culling  down  the  trees  and 
draining  tho  swamp  and  lotting  in  the  sun,  that  tho 
vegetation  will  not  be  supported  as  it  was  before 
beneath  the  dark  shade  of  tho  trees.     In  the  mid- 
dle IS  a  iino  lake,  and  tho  whole  is  inhabited  by 
wild  animals,  and  it  is  somewhat  dangerous  to  dwell 
near  it  by  reason  of  tho  bad  atmosphere  it  creates. 
It  is  covered  by  most  luxuriant  vegetation.     Wo 


dry,  and  the  leaves  accumiilated  one  layer  above  \  find  in  some  i.laccs  in  England  that  there  is  a 
another,  so  as  to  form  beds  of  coal  of  a  different  \  species  of  walking  mosses,  which  are  sometimes 
nature  from  those  .hat  preceded.     You  know  it  is  i  seized  with  a  fancy  lo  walk  off  from  their  places: 


V 


a  common  ih-ng  for  shallow  ponds  to  fill  up  grad- 
ually with  mud  and  aquatic  plants  and  at  last  peat 
and  trees  aro  formed  upon  them.     A  corresponding 


tho  moss  swells  up,  bursts  and  rolls  off,  sometimes 
burying  cottages  in  its  path.  In  some  places  this 
peat  has  been  dug  into  and  houses  have  been  fouijd 


I 


S5 


,evom\fo.!t  l..-l>.w  ihc  ^urfacc-Lurious  ftnliriuti- 
rioii  HMnftinH.  I.,  ilm  «ume  n'.anner  ibo  Greut 
ir.imal  m«y  Hi-r-n.!  itsMf  over   th."   surrounding 

coiiiitry. 

1,1  Bpoc.ilutin-,'  iilH.r.  111.-  p.ol.aUc  I'Umalo  of  tho 
CarUonilVu.us  p.'rio.l,  it  in  I.pUcv-.!  tluit  we  l.ave 
only  to  inuislMO  a  .liir.Tont  .llsliibiilion  of  llm  l.uul 
over  the  '.urOv.-c  .,f  tliL-  pluiu-t  ihu.i  that  wliich  now 
prevail:^,  to  produce  such  a  warm    and  humid  .ii- 
mato  a>,  mu.t  have   prevailed   when  thoio  planU 
flouri.hr.l  which  form  coal.  Tl>  the  existence   of 
high  lands  near  the  pole  NNhich  produces  such  great 
cold.     If  the.e  mountains  were^  to  ho  transferred 
to  the  tiopieal  region*,  it  would  immediat.>ly  lower 
tho  temperature  of  all  climates  of  the  earth.     Now 
every  one  who  hns  uttend.'d  to  tho   study  of  rocks 
and  fossils  sees  at  onco  that  tho  present  physical 
geography  of  tho  globe  has  no  reference  to  its  an- 
cient conditio...     Sea*  once  occupied  a  largo  por- 
tion of  what  arc  now  continents,  and  we  also  find 
evidences  of  marked  change  in  tho  Carboniferous 
•and  other  strata.     In  the  limestone  accompanying 
tho  coal  we  f.nd  corals  and  shells,  strongly  indica- 
ting a  higher  temperature  of  tho  sua,  as  the  plants 
shadow  forth  a  hi-her  temporaturo  in  tho  atmos- 
phere. 

I  have  been    fiivored    with    a    map    illustrating 
these  points  by  I'rof.  IIai.i-,  one  of  the  State  Geo- 
logists engage.!  in  surveying  this  State,  whose  la- 
bors will  soon  be  nwde  pul)lic.     And  hero  I  can- 
not avoid  saying  that  I  have  been   over  much  of 
tho  ground  vhicli  they  have  surveyed,  and  it  gives 
me  groat  pleasure  t.*  bear  testimony   to  the  accu- 
racy of  their  labors,  to  the  great  pains  they  have 
takon,  and  the  science  with  which  they  have  con- 
ducted the  survey.     I  look  forward  to  tho  appear- 
ance of  their  work,  embracing  the  results  of  their 
labors,  as  an  era  in  the  advancement  of  seience; 
and  tho  patronage  which  has  been  alVwrded  by  tho 
different  States  of  the  Union   to  theso   surveys  is 
niHch    greater,  in  proportion   to    the    population, 
than  any  European    power   has    ever  extended  to 
the  advancemci.l  of  geological  science.     When  wo 
remember,  too,  tiie  complaints  that   may  be  heard 
in  different  parts  of  the  State  that  the  geologists 
have  failed  to  discover  any  mineral   weaMi,  even 
in  an  economical  point  of  view,  those  srientilic  re- 
searches are  of  high  vilue,  though  their  greatest 
interest  arises  from   tho   promotion  of  tho  know- 
ledge of  the  structure  of  the  globe. 


nm  mendy  in  estimating  tho  mischief  they  have 
prevented,  wo  shall  see  an  ample  remuneration  for 
ull  the  expeuKe  attending  the  survey.     1  have  been 
told  that  in  this  Stale  alone   more  than  a  million 
of  dollars  have  been  expended  since  tho  Ilevolu- 
tionary  War  in  borii.-;  for  coal  b.  formations  were 
it  in  imp^HM:c  10  find  ««j/-below  the  carbon- 
iferous   strata.       I  should   not,   to  bo  sure,  have        - 
V.  ntured  t-  gcnerali/o  from  Europe  as  a  typo  and 
sny  tV.at  the  rocks  in  the  crust  of  the  earth  occupy 
tho  same   relative    position    here,  and  that   coal 
would  be  found  always  in  this  country  .u.d.<r  the 
same  conditions  as   in    Europe.      \h,t  when    for 
iwenty  years  or  more  we  find  coal  ac(-ompanied  by 
tho  same  plants,  and  that  no  valuable  fuel  has  ever 
been    found   under    any    fither   circumstances    wo 
should  be  safe  in  saying  that  none  could  bo  found 
in  tho  older   strata.     If  wo  begin  in  the  newer 
beds  wo  may  come  down  to  tho   coal,  and  find 
enough  coal  to  pay  the  expense  ot  boring  for  it. 
But    if    wo    begin    in    tho    strata    beneath    the 
carboniferous   we    should    certainly   never  roach 
the  coal  until  wo   had   bored  through  the   whole 
earth  :    wc  might  find  it  at    tho  antipodes  but  not 
before. 

Thus  complaints  arc  made  against  those   geolo- 
gists not  only  that  they  have  found  no  coal,  but  that 
they    have    passed    sentence    of  sterility  upon  tho 
Stati',  for  they  say    that  through   all  time  no  coal 
shall  be  found  within  its   borders.     And  when  WO 
reflect  on  the  enormous  sums  that  have  been  wast- 
ed upon    strata    tnore    ancient   than    the   coal,  in 
seiirching  for  coal,  wc  shall  sco    the    great  saving 
made  in  consequence  of  this    survey  ;  for  when  all 
its  maps  and  secll.)ns  arc  published  it  will  bo  seen 
how  impossible    it  is   to  find  coal    in    theso  more 
ancient  beds.     This  is  a  kind   of  advantage  which 
is  never   easily    appreciated :  because,  to   prevent 
mischief  is  never   so    clear  and  palpaple    a  bene- 
fit to  the  multitude  as  to  find  mineral  wealth.  But 
one  of  tho  greatest  advantages  which  have  resulted 
from    these   surveys    in    England,    and  it  will  be 
among  the  greatest  hero,  is  tho    prevention  of  this 
rash  and  absurd  speculation  to  find  coal  in  strata 
below  that  in  which  those  plants   known  to  be  es- 
sential to  the  formation  of  coal  are  found  to  exist: 
and  after  examining  the  whole  ancient  strata,  both 
in  the  United  States  and  in  Europe,  there  has  never 
been  found  a  single  bed  of  coal  where  these  plants 
do  not  exist- 


■Ml 


J 


LECTURE    VI. 


FOSHIL    KOOT-nUNTS. 
I  MAvr  bci>n  nBkod  hy  snvoral  persons  wlio heard 
my  lam  Icctiin-,  ujion  tlio  Origin  of  Coul,  if  I  roiihl 
oxplain  tin)  (lilToroBno  between  Coal  utid  Aiiihra- 
eito ;  aiitt  a»  I  then  liaJ  no  time  to  touch  upon  thi« 
■ubjeat,   iilihouKli   tny  hint  lecture  was  prolonged 
beyond   the   Umit   whicli  I    wished,    I   will    now 
•peak  of  it  in  a  few  words.     It  certainly  is  a  good 
qmigtion ;    but   severni    persons    have   asked    mo 
whether,  conceding  ihu  vogeiablo  origin  of  coal,  it 
may  not  be  the  difcrenee  in   the  vood   which 
•auies  the  differenco  in  the  coal :    whether  one 
kind  may  not  produce  the  Coal  and  another  the 
Anthracite.     Now  there  is    no  doubt  that,  in  the 
itrata  of  the   Korth,  there  is  somo  variety  in  the 
character  I  f  the  various  Coals  discovered,  which 
may  be  owing  to  a  diflferenco  in  the  original  text- 
ure and  composition  of  the  different  plant*  from 
which  they  were  formed.     But  this,  nevertheless, 
is  not  the  cause  of  the  difference  between  Anihra- 
cito  and  Bituminous  Coal,  as  they  have  brea  pro- 
duced by  the  same  plants.     There  is  no  doubt  that 
the  Palm,  and  other  Monocotyledonous  plants,  and 
bamboos,  reeds, , fee.  would  give  akindof  conl  to  a 
certain  degree  different  from  that  produced  by  the 
fir  and  other  Dicotyledons.     But  as  precisely  the 
same  assemblage  of  plants  is  found  in  the  Aiithra- 
eito  and  Coal,  it  cannot  be   in  this  woy  that  ihe 
difference    between   these    substances  is   caused ; 
and  the  conclusion   to  which   the  geol»)gist    vnd 
chemist  have  come  is  this :  that  Anthracile  has 
once  been  Bituminous  Coal,  but  has  loi^t  its  bitu- 
minous matter  by  its  escaping;  that  the  volatile 
part  of  it  has  escaped  and  tho  wood  has  become 
gradually  converted  into  coal  by  tho  loss  of  its  ox- 
ygen—vegetables being  composed  of  carbon,  oxy- 
gen, and  hydrogon.     Tho  vegetable  matter  losing 
first   its    oxygen   losbs   also   in  tho    combination 
eome  portion  of  its  carbon,  forming  a  carbonic  acid 
which  escapes  from  tho  wood,  often  as    a  pun; 
gas— as  may  be  seen  in  bubbles   which  rise  from 
tho  bottom  of  pools  of  -.vater:  it  is  thas  converted 
Into  coal  by  the  loss  of  its  oxygen  ;  and  this  con- 
version is  so  gradual  that  there  aro  found  in  tho 
Earth  woods  in  every  stage  of  the  change — both  in 
that  state  when  they  are  called  lignites  and  wlien 
they  have  become  perfect  coal.     We  find,  too,  all 
the  iiitcfvenirig  forms  between  wood  and  coai,  and 
then  all  between  coal  and  anthracite.     This  is 


caused  neain  by  the  losnof  tho  hydroijen  which  es- 
capes in  combinution  with  carbon,  in  the  form  of 
cjirburetted  hj  Jrogen  gn^— tho  same  subsiance  that 
we  are  now  burning  here.   You  are  aware  that  thi< 
gas  'annot  be  produced  from  anthracite  because  in 
that  theoperntion  has  already  takenplace:  it  is  man. 
ufactUK'd  entirely  from  bituminous  coul.     This  vol- 
atile, iiiflummalrflo  gus  may  be  seen  to  e.-(cap«!  froia 
rents  in  the  Karth— natural  rents  from  which  this 
carbo-hydrogcn  issues  ;  and  if  the  coul  below  bo 
examined  it  will  be  found  to  be  in  process  of  grad- 
ual change.     But  there  is  one  remarkable  fact  ob- 
served in  this  country:  that,  in  tho  coal  region  oi 
Pennsylvania  for  ejiample,- and  this  has  been  ci- 
peciftlly  pointed  out  by  Prof.  Rodqeus  in  his  sui- 
vey  of  Pennsylvania— tho  anthracite  is  found  to  bo 
purest  in  the  most  disturbed  part  of  the  mountains; 
and  it  is  half  bituminous  when  you  get  into  tho  re- 
gions  that  have  been  slightly   disturbed— in  tho 
western  part  of  tho  State ;  and  when  you  reach  tlw 
perfectly  horizontal  coal  district— that  where  thejti 
has  been  no  disturbance,  no  shattering  and  tear. 
ing  up  of  the  mountains— theru  the  coal  is  purely 
bituminous,  not  having  lost  its  hydrogen.     Somo 
have  suggested  that  this  is  owing  to   iho  rending 
and  (issuring  of  the  rocks  in  tho  disturbed  region, 
in  which  all  the  volntile  matter  would  have  esoaped 
more  easily.     Of  this  there  is   no  certainty.     But 
the  gcneiul  fact  is  undoubted— tlmt  in  proportion 
to  the  disturbance,  overthrow  and  bending  of  t'.u 
stratii— gome  of  which  have  been  fold.id  back  upon 
themselves— do  we  lirij  that  the   con\ersion  into 
anthracite  from  pure  carbon  is  most  completo. 

The  next  subject  of  which  I  shall  treat  is  that  of 
Fossil  Footsteps  found  in  the  formation  which  wo 
call  iho  New  Red  Sar  ilstone.  Its  position  io  th« 
series  is  as  follows : 

1.  Chalk. 

2.  Oolite. 

3.  New  R;d  Sandstone, 

4.  Magnesian  Limestone, 

5.  Coal. 

6.  Old  Red  Sandstene, 

7.  Silurian  Group. 

8.  Granite. 
In  the  upper  part  are  found  organic  remains  in 

great  abundance  and  in  the  red  and  white  sand.- 
^  stono  there  were  found   about  seven  years  ago  in 


37 


Dormiiiiy  thr  r<>niuint  offoot«top«— priiitn  Rpparont- 
ly  modi'  by  tlm  fi'ct  of  qim(lniiii'il!«  (rudfly  ii'pro- 
•nntcd  in  ihi!<(lruwin(f)[oxliiliilc'(J.]  Ofton  fivii  or 
(ix  paiiij  of  iIk'so  iiro  fouml  inuriKtrnrk.  Tlirynn! 
fdund  nfiir  llii'  liordi'rn  of  U'>hftnia  iit  IIcssIxt);^  ; 
«nJ  tlinir  dificovcry  created  at  fir«t  a  prodigioim 
tonsiition  in  ftcrrnaiiy  bocaueo  >iom«  iinagiiird  timt 
tho  aiiinmU  wuro  a  sort  of  extinct  form,  perhapn, 
of  man,  or  loino  prototypn  of  iniin.  Tlioliaiid-liku 
form  of  thiMi)  track;*,  resi'inbliiiij  in  noino  drgreo 
tbo  human  hiind,  created  great  antoni^bmunt.  The 
largest  truck  wiiii  about  eight  inches  long ;  before 
each  of  these  large  tracks  is  a  small  one  which  i* 
referred  to  the  fore  foot  of  tho  creature.  There 
wore  obH(!rveil  four  toes  and  one  other  which  re- 
*embled  a  thumb.  In  one  track  that  wo^  found  on 
tho  right,  in  tho  next  on  tho  left,  and  so  on ;  and  to 
whatever  distance  they  were  traced  they  wore  found 
thus  to  (ilterndte  ri;;ht  and  lift.  No  doubt  what- 
ever is  entertained  that  these  represented  the  steps 
of  s«me  unimul  imprinted  on  layers  of  clny  when 
ill  n  soft  state.  They  jtood  out  in  relief  upon  tho 
under  side  of  the  slabs  of  sand-stone  when  taken 
•ut ;  because  this  sand-stono  was  onco  in  the  form 
of  loose  sand,  and  was  thus  depo^tited  in  the  hol- 
lows of  the  cliiy  below;  so  that  it  would  present 
tho  appearance  of  a  cast  moulded  in  the  hollows 
of  the  subjacent  day,  and  wo  should  have  a  perfect 
cast  in  relief  of  the  footsteps  of  tho  animal  us  it 
walked  on  the  clay. 

Some  conjectured  that  this  animal  belonged  to 
the  Marsupial  OY  Kangaroo  tribe,  because  thehind 
feet  of  this  animal  arc  remarkably  large  iN  com- 
parison with  its  fore  fuct ;  and  it  has  feet  also  very 
much  in  the  form  of  the  humanhand.  Others  believ- 
ed it  to  belong  to  the  Crocodile  tribe;  and  Prof. 
Link  early  conceived  that  it  belonged  to  tho  Ba- 
trachian  or  Frog  family.  While  this  discussion 
was  going  on  in  Germany— or  but  fev/  months  af- 
ter this — similar  footsteps  were  found  in  the  Red 
Sandstone  of  the  same  age  in  England,  at  Storeton 
Hill  in  Cheshire,  not  far  from  Liverpool,  on  the 
banks  of  tho  Mersey.  These  salient  footmarks  were 
observed  on  no  less  than  fivo  distinct  ranges  er 
layers  of  sandstone;  there  were  five  thin  layers  of 
clay,  and  resting  on  each  was  a  thin  white  or  yel- 
low quartzose  sandstone,  vshich  presented  these 
footsteps  precisely  like  those  found  in  Germany. 
It  had  been  previously  ascertained  from  the  posi- 
tion of  thos<!  beds,  and  tho  other  fossil  rocks  in 
questioii,  that  they  were  of  tho  same  ago  with  those 
!p.  whicli  tlio  fnntprint?  ware  found  in  Germany. 
They  were  found  of  several  sizes;  one  in  which 
the  larger  footstep  was  eight  inches  iu  length  ;  ano- 


ther ill  which  it  was  twelve;  thiii  was  called  th« 
Chtirotherium  Htreulin,  on  account  of  it*  grett 
size.  Thn  tracks  were  about  fourteen  inches  aptrt. 
In  ihn  Museum  at  Liverjioot  Ih  preserved  a  long 
slab  lii  sandstone— as  long  as  this  staff  (some  tea 
foet)  in  which  thn  prints  are  so  beautifully  distinct 
in  reliefihat  you  would  suppose  tkoy  Imdbeon  mado 
by  the  chisel  of  the  sculpor.  In  some  slabs  pro- 
served  in  th(»  Dritish  Museum  you  may  see  print* 
of  this  shapu  [exhibited]  which  aro  evidently  castj 
of  the  small  cracks  below.  Tho  clay  having  shrunk, 
these  cracks  were  opened  by  tho  heat  of  tho  sun  : 
so  Uiat  when  tho  loose  sand  was  deposited  in  thfl 
footprints  of  the  animals,  it  found  them  filled  with 
these  rents  in  tho  clay ;  and  when  they  came  t9 
be  taken  up,  these  cracks  aro  found  to  be  in  relief, 
as  well  as  tho  footsteps.  Tho  same  things  ai« 
found  in  tho  same  beds  of  England;  and  in  this 
red  sandstone,  which  is  found  all  over  Cheshiro 
and  other  parts  of  tho  kingdom,  aro  found  ripple* 
marks — parallel  ridges,  marking  tho  ripple  on  th» 
beach  of  the  sea  at  low-tide. 

It  was  remarked  when  reasoning  upon  the  sub- 
ject in  London,  and  in  the  discussions  of  the 
Geological  Society,  that  these  fooLsteps  must 
have  been  mado  by  an  air-breathing  animal; 
as  no  animal  which  existed  under  water  couli 
make  such  distinct  foot-marks,  not  being  heavy 
enough  in  that  fluid ;  they  were  pressed  down 
by  the  weight  of  an  animal  walking  in  the 
atmosphere,  and  thcrpforo  at  low  tide.  And 
nodiing  is  more  commnn  now  than  to  observe  tho 
tracks  of  vaiious  animals  upon  the  beach  at  low 
tide.  I  had  an  opportunity  myself  of  observing  thi» 
in  tho  islands  near  Savannah  in  Georgia.  At  low 
tide  I  have  seen  the  whole  beach  covered  withtha 
trucks  of  the  Opossum,  Racoon  and  other  animals  j 
and  in  many  placesafter  tracing  those  tracks  somo 
hundreds  of  feet,  I  came  to  places  where  tho 
quartzose  loose  sand  of  the  low  cliffs  of  tho  island* 
had  been  blown  by  the  wind  only  a  few  hours  be- 
fore while  the  tide  was  down;  still  there  had  been 
time  for  tho  tracks  to  be  made  and  for  the  wind 
to  blow  the  sand  over,  and  in  soma  places  tho 
tracks  were  thus  obliterated,  some  entirely  and 
other«  only  in  part.  We  have  then  only  to  suppose 
a  submergence  of  a  coast  so  situated  carrying 
down  this  sand,  afterwards  thatit  was  consolidated 
by  ferraginous  or  other  matter,  and  wo  should 
have  a  counterpart  of  this.  Take  up  a  slab  of  the 
common  sand  and  it  wauld  present  the  samo  mark* 
of  the  racoon  and  opossum. 

At  the  same  time  that  these  fossil  remains  wero 
discovered  by  Prof.  Kaup  who  devoted  considerable 


-8 


38 


ttttentisn  to  tho  subject,  Mr.  Owen  procured  from 
Warwick  several  fossil  teeth  of  a  conical  form ; 
and  being  engaged  at  the  time  in  investigating  tlie 
internal  texture  of  the  teeth  of  various  animals,  lie 
cut  av.iiy  a  thin  slice  and  subjected  it  to  examina- 
tio  .  Ly  a  powerful  microscope,  and  ho  was  sur- 
piibcd  to  find  that  this  tooth,  found  in  tho  New 
Red  Sandstone,  No.  3,  difliTcd  greatly  from  those 
of  all  the  other  reptiles  found  in  No.  2,  or  tho  Oo- 
lite formation.  Thi.s  Oolite  has  been  called  tho 
age  of  Reptiles,  becausa  we  have  in  it  so  many  of 
the  Tcrtihratulw,  ard  reptiles — flies,  fish,  lizaid-^, 

Ichthyosauriana  and  Saurians  (sf  various  kind < 

not  one  of  which  has  a  texture  resemblin"-  in  tho 
least  degree  the  texture  of  those  found  in  the  New 
Red-Saudstonc.     He  made  a  representation  of  a 
small    part — one-fourth  of  a  tooth,    which  he  has 
allowed  me  to  copy.     [Exhibited.]     Yon  sec  that 
its  texture  recalls  the   appearance  of  a  section  of 
the  human  brain ;  it  has  the   same  convolutions, 
formed  W  the  denlino  and  pulp  of  the  tooth;  the 
animal   that   exhibited  so    romarkahic  u  structure 
was  believed  to  bo  distinct  from  any  liviiifr  species. 
Supposing  this  to  be  tho  case  and  becoming  great- 
ly interested  in  this  discovery,  Mr.  Owkn"  applied 
19  tho  German  Professor  Kaup,  to  have  one  of  his 
fossil   teeth   sent   from  Germany  that  it  miglit  be 
dissected,  and  thus  that  it  might  ba  ascertained  if  it 
had  the  s;i.mG  structure  as  those  found  in  England. 
This  was  done  and  the  same  remarkable  texture 
was  observed.     Thus  we  have  in  both  countries — 
five  hundred  miles  apart — fossil  teeth,  found  in  tho 
Fame  rock  oiid  having  the  same  structure,  entirely 
distinct  from  that  of  reptiles  in  other  formations. 
It  was  evident  that  they  had  belonged  to  reptiles — 
for  they  were  different  from  any  belonging  to  quad- 
rupeds or  flub.     It  was  thus  believed  that  they  were 
a  reptilian  class  of  a  now   and  before  unknown 


animal— thai  </terc  vas  as  great  a  disparifi/  in 
the  relative  size  of  these  bones  as  in  the  marks 
of  the  hind  feet  compared  with  those  of  the  fere 
feet.     Soon   after  a  portion  of  the  jaw  was  found 
and  Mr.  Owkn    was  able  to   construct  a  skeleton 
of  this  animal— to  restore  in  imagination  something 
of  tho    form  of  the   animal    that    onco   may  have 
walked  sc  as  to  produce  these  lines  of  foot-marks, 
by  bringing    its  hind  foot    forward    so  as  to  make 
an  impression  close  to  the  last  one  of  the  fore  foot. 
This  figure   is  a  rcprrsoiitation  of  tho  animal  and 
tho  position  of  his  tracks  : 


fannily. 

The  next  discovery  mado  in  the  rocks  of  this 
very  age,  and  in  the  same  scries  of  Sandston'  in 
which  theinipressions  of  footmarks  were  found,  was 
of  parts  of  the  scapulu,fomorand  pelvi-i  of  more  than 
one  pppcios  of  this  animal.  It  had  received  the 
jrovifiional  name  of  Cheirotherium  or  Bca.'it  of 
ike  Hand,  from  the  shape  of  the  imprinted  foot- 
step. The  question  now  was  whether  the  ti"cth  and 
the    bones  cf'iild    belong   to    tlie   Chrirotherhim. 

Mr.  OwE.v  rcinaikcd,  uftor  examining  S'«me  of 
tlie  bones  uf  thu  hinder  cxtremiues  and  comparing 
them  v.-ith  tlio  boiios  that  r-,iat.-:il!y  LL!a::grd  to  thr 
anterior  u.xtrumitii's— ly  the  forearm,  found  in  tho 
eame  place   and    probably  belonging   to  tho    samo 


These  parts  were  found  when  I  left  England 
nine  months  ago  audit  i.-^  probable  that  more  have 
been  found  since  that  time,  for  all  these  discoveries 
have  been  made  within  the  lust  twelve  or  fourtean 
months. 

It  was  therefore  now  clear  that  there  had  ex- 
isted, at  tho  period  of  the  daposition  of  this  stratum 
in  which  these  impressions  are  found,  several 
species  of  animals  which  correspond  well,  in  rela- 
tive dimensions,  with  the  sire  of  the  several  sots 
of  footstep.5  found  in  G^Tmany  and  England.  At 
least  three  distinct  sizes  wcie  found— teeth  belong- 
ing to  three  distinct  species.  They  were  called 
Lahyrirhthndou  from  the  labyrinthine  coavolutions 
in  tho  structure  of  the  tooth. 

The  next  step  made  in  England  was  to  ascer- 
tain whether  tliis  Labyrinthodon  was  an  air- 
breathing  animal  or  not.  Now  Owen  has  shown 
from  the  structure  of  some  bones  in  the  low(!r  iaw, 
and  also  of  one  in  iIk;  upper,  that  there  was  an  ori- 
fice which  implied  a  nasal  c-ivity,  placed  as  in  air- 
breathing  reptiles  of  the  division  Ratrachia.  For 
it  is  possible  from  the  bone*  to  discover  whether 
th(!  animal  breathed  by  gills,  or  at  least  by  brov.' 
chia,  for  in  that  case  tho  opening  would  extend  to 
the  nostrils  ;  whereas  if  tin--  aniniul  breathed  air, 
tlie  cavity  would  b'l  placed  ir.uch  farther  back — 
nearer  t!ie  back  of  the  head.  We  are  able  to  show 
lliul  this  Liihyrtn'hod<in\\M\  been  an  air-breathing 
animal,  and.mun  have  been  able  to  walk  along 
tiie  bidi-  of  tho  reiiiing  wuHr. 


You  are  c 
into  four  gre 


The  first  cr 

&c. ;  the  se 

snakes  and 

salamanders 

teology  that 

chian  order 

a  bull,  and  t 

as  an  eloph 

represented 

comparative 

an  aquatic  i 

feet  in  Icngi 

in  the  old  v 

island  of  Ji 

exactly  res( 

this  animal 

volcanic  cr 

den,  where 

Museum. 

a  female,  at 

brought  ho 

erous  I  nee 

male  devo7 

one  in  the 

creatures,  i 

bo  found  ill 

has  always 

period — as 

Aristotle — 

and  there  I 

made  befo; 

of  whom  ai 

been  seen  t 

been  expos 

or  three  mi 

full  examir 

fable. 

I  will  nc 
complete  i 
or  the  Lab. 
remains  to 
tho  mind  c 
of  tho  sai 
game  footj 
tain  teeth 
to  that  roc 
lived  at  th' 
made.     W 


Mgyii 


39 


\ 


You  are  awaro  that  reptiles  aro  distinguishci 
into  four  great  divisions — 

1.  Saurians, 

2.  Chclonians, 

3.  Ophidians, 

4.  Batrachians. 

The  first  embraces  crocodiles,  alligators,  lizards, 
&c. ;  the  second,  tortoises,  turtles,  &c. ;  the  third, 
snakcrf  and  boas,  and   the  fourth  frogs,  newts  and 
salamanders.     Now  it  is  quite  evident  from  its  os- 
teology that   this  creature  belongs  to  the  Batra- 
chian  order — that  it  is  a  gigantic  frog,  as  large  as 
a  bull,  and  the  Cheirotherum  perhaps  was  as  large 
as  an  elephant.       The  salamandrine  reptiles  are 
represented  in   the  living  order  by  creatures  of  a 
comparatively  small  size.     In  this  country  there  is 
an  aquatic  salamander  among  the  Alleghanies  two 
feet  in  length — much  larger  than  any  that  we  have 
in  the  old  world,  except  one  which  is  found  in  the 
island  of  Japan,  called  the  Salamandra  Maxima 
exactly  resembling  a  frog.     It  is  very  singxdar  that 
this  animal  should  have  been  found  in  a  lake  in  a 
volcanic  crater  in  that  island.      It  is  now  in  Ley- 
den,  where  for  eight  or  ten  years  it  has  been  in  the 
Museum.      There  were  two  procured,  a  male  and 
a  female,  about  four  feet  in  length.     Only  one  was 
brought  home  ;    and  to  prove  ti  at  they  are  carniv- 
erous  I  need  only  mention  that  on  tlio  passage  the 
male  devoured  the  female,  so  that  we  have  only 
one  in  the  Museum.       They  are  fierce,  voracious 
creatures,  and  it  is  vciy  singular  that  they  should 
bo  found  in  the  crater  of  a  volcano ;  because  there 
has  always  been   a  story — from  the  most  remote 
period — as  long  ago,  at  any  rate,  as  the  time  of 
Aristotle — that  the  Salamander  was  inconsumable ; 
and  there  have  bcei*  depositions  in  great  numbers 
made  before  most  respectable   magistrates,  some 
of  whom  are  now  living,  that  these  creatures  have 
been  seen  to  come  out  of  a  fire  in  which  they  had 
been  exposed   to  the  white  heat  of  coals  for  two 
or  three  minutes  perfectly  uninjured.     But  after  a 
full  examination  it  turns  out  that  this  is  entirely  a 
fable. 

I  will  now  observe  that  although  we  have  no 
complete  specimen  of  either  the  Chcirolkerium 
or  the  Labyrinthodon,  we  have  still  enough  of  their 
remains  to  leave  no  doubt  of  their  character  on 
the  mind  of  any  person.  We  Iwve  first  in  rocks 
of  tho  same  ago  in  Germany  and  England  the 
aame  footprints.  We  have  in  both  countries  cer- 
tain teeth  of  a  most  remarkable  structure,  peculiar 
to  that  rock  to  which  bcliiHg  tho  animals  which 
lived  at  the  period  when  these  footmarks  were 
made.  \Ve  find  the  hinder  extremities  in  each 
E 


species  as  much  larger  than  the  anterior  portion  - 
as  the  posterior  footsteps  aro  larger  than  thoso  of 
the  forefeet.  And  lastly  we  require  air-breathiiitr 
animals,  and  wc  find  the  structure  of  the  nasal 
cavity  such  as  to  show  that  the  Labyrinthodon  was 
evidently  an  air-breathing  creature. 

You  may  be   aware  that  in  this  country  then- 
have  been  found  some  remarkable  trvcks  of  bird-< 
in  the  Red  Sandstone  of  the  vallpy  of  the  Connec- 
ticut; and  Professor  Hitchcock  \\.\^  embodied  an 
excellent  account  of  them  in  his  final    Report  of 
tho  Geological  Survey  of  Massachusetts,  and  has 
given  some  excellent  plates  !iot  imly  of  the  extinct 
species,  but  also  of  the  animals  and  birds  that  may 
now  be  found  on  the  shores  of  the  lakes  of  Ameri- 
ca.     It   appears  to  me  thnA  he  has    completely 
made  out  that  several  species  of  birds  existed  at 
that  period  which,  so  far  as  is  known,  is  tho  same 
as  Nos.  4  and  5  in  which  are  found  the  footstep-t 
in  Europe ;  and  he  has  found  some  as  large  there 
as  an  ostrich  and  others  again  of  smaller  size.  The 
variety  is  considerable.     He    has   found,  too,  the 
same  ripple-marked  figuscs — in  which  are  seen 
casts  of  the  skeletons  of  tho  cracks  in  the  clay 
produced  by  shrinking.     I  have  seen  as  near  this 
as  at  Newark,  examples  of  this   sandstone  ripple 
with  casts  of  the  cracks  in  the   subjacent  clay.— • 
In  England  there  are  places   where  occurs  clay 
which  has  been  pitted  over  by  small  depressions 
as  though  it  were  done  by  a  shower  of  rain.     You 
can  see  that  if  rain  falls  upon  sand  it  will  cause 
a  pitted  appearance ;   and  of  sucli  we  find  slabs 
containing   casts   which   have  been  called   fossil 
showers  of  rain;  and  lam  inclined  to  believe  that 
this  is  the  origin  of  the  appearance.     And  I  think 
that  upon   this   point   Mr.  Rkdfif.t.t)  and  myself 
will  agree — that  in  Newark  we  have  slabs  in  which 
can  be  seen  the  same  marks,  not  so  exactly  repre- 
senting a  shower  of  rain  as  those  in  P'ngland  but 
still  having  a  olose  resemblance  to  them.     In  this 
case  the  marks  are  in  soft  shale  and  we  have  pits ; 
but  when  salient  casts  aro  found  we  have  all  the 
apparent  marks  of  rain  in  relief  like  the  footprints 
and  casts  of  cracks  in  the  clay.     There  are  some 
beautiful  remains  of  fish  in  the  same  strata  in  the 
valley  of  the  Connecticut  and  in  parts  of  New  Jer- 
sey, some  of  which  are  upon  the  table.     They  ate 
not  in  the  same  beds  as  the  footprints — but  in  tha 
same  strata — formed  deeper  under  water. 

But  as  I  must  not  dwell  too  long  on  any  enc 
subject— as  the  course  I  am  delivering  is  so  short, 
and  as  I  am  desirous  «f  treating  as  snany   subject'^ 

'  fortna- 


I 


poas 


having  already  spoke 


tion  No.  3,  I  pass  the  coal — »f  the  Flora  of  which 


-V.*^i<A«s»— ■ 


40 


I  jiljoko  in  my  last  lecture— belww  the  Red  Sand- 
Monc  to  Strata  No.  7,  which  wc  soo  abounding  in 
fossils ;  and  in  no  part  of  the  world  has  it  so  ma^- 
aificcnt  a  derelopmunt  as  in  New-York,    though  it 
occurs  in  greater  thickness  in  Pennsylvania.     But 
there  is  at  least  no  part  of  the  world  that  has  boon 
investigated  where  wo  see  th,!  fossil  character  of 
the  different  periods   so  well  mado  out  as  in  New- 
York.     When  we  come  to  the  subdivisions  of  this 
one  formation,  you  will  see  at  once  ihst  it  forms  as 
many  groups  as  are  represented  in  the  other  table. 
The  first    of  these   divisions  was  formerly  called 
Transition— but  now  the  Silurian  Strata  ;  because 
it  is  found  mostly  in  Siluria,  a  region  on  the  borders 
of  Wales,    composed  of   the  border   counties  of 
Wales  and  England.  It  has  been  well  studied  and 
elucidated  by  my   friend  Mr.    Murchiso.v.     For 
this  section  [here  cxhihitr-d]  I  am  indebted  to  Pro. 
fcssor  E.MMO.NS    and   Mr.  Hall  of  the   State   of 
New-York.     It  exhibits  portions  of  the  results  of 
their  joint  labors ;  and  I  have  had  the  advantage 
of  going  over  the  region  and  seeing  the  beds  in,  the 
order  they  are  here  represented. 

First  of  all  we  have  what  is  called  the  Moliawk 
group,  which  is  1200  feet  thick  in  the  state  of 
New-York  and  thicker  in  Pennsylvania  ;  for  the 
thickness  depends  on  local  or  accidental  causes. 
If  the  material  of  which  it  is  composed  be  coan;e 
tlie  strata  will  be  thick.  The  fine  sand  will  be 
floated  farther  out  to  sea.  In  this  strata  occurs 
the  Trenton  limestone — with  trilobites  and  other 
species  of  fossils.  We  have  in  this  strata  some 
extinct  species  as  tJie  Lingula  and  others  that 
must  have  lived  in  the  seas.  The  GraptoUtc  is 
found  in  the  old  rocks,  and  ia,  a  species  of  zgophyte 
related  to  the  Pennatula.  It  is  an  example  of  an 
extinct  form  only  found  in  ancient  rocks,  never  be- 
yond the  Transition  or  Sikrian  Strata.  When  we 
pass  to  the  Red  Sandsto.^e  we  have  a  resemblance 
to  the  more  modem  rock,  of  which  I  have  before 
speken,  in  which  are  found  the  fossil  foot  prints. 
It  is  called  the  Onlari)  sandstone  because  it  is 
foHnd  along  the  borders  of  Lake  Ontario.  The 
lower  part  of  the  Cliif  at  Lewiston,  in  tlie 
Niagara  District  is  the  same  bed  saen  horizontally ; 
it  is  60,  80  and  in  the  lo«-er  part  120  feet  thick. 
Of  its  exact  position  I  will  speak  more  at  length 
in  my  next  lecture  ;  I  only  wish  now  to  point 
out  the  order  in  which  they  follow.  If  you  sup- 
pose yourself  aloft  in  a  balloon— looking  down 
over  that  part  of  the  country,  it  would  present  the 
appearance  in  this  figure— i?i  which  a  nortinn  rtf 
tlie  wood  is  supposeii  to  be  cut  away  so  that  the 
geological  structure  of  the  rock  can  be  seen. 


After  the  Ontario  sandstone  comes  that  which 
is   called  by  Mr.   Vanuxk.-w    the    Protean   group 
from  the  many  diffeicnt  forms  in  which  it  appears. 
It  contains  the  Pentarncrus,  an  extinct  .specie*  of 
bivalve  shell.     Sometimes  it  is  also  in  the  form  of 
iron  ore.     This  Protean  mass  is  only  about  50  feet 
thick  at  Qu(n)nston  and  Lewiston,  though  in  some 
parts  of  the  country  it  is  probably  thicker.     It  is 
found    farther   East    and    South.     Passing,   then, 
from  the  Mohawk  limestone  to  tho  Ontario  sandstone 
and  theivc    to  the  Protean  group,  wc  next   come 
to  the  shale  and  limestone  of  the  Niagara  district. 
These  beds  contain  an  assemblage  of  organic  re- 
mains, as,  forexamplc,  tho  Chain  Coral— so  called 
from  the   resemblance  of  its   i:2>ppr  surface   to  a 
chain.     It  is  a  genus  peculiar  to  tho  ancient  rocks 
of  Norway,  England  and  the  United  States.  When 
I  say  that  each  of  these  groups  is  distinguished  by 
a   dilferent  assemblage  of  animals,  of  which  there 
are  several  hundreds  in  one,  I  would   bo  under- 
stood to  mean  that  some  species  have  a  wide,  ver- 
tical range,  as  it  is  called.     Some  may  live  longer 
on  the  globe  during  its  changes  than  others  ;  and 
this   would   be  expected  when   we  consider    hat 
some  species  at  present  bear  difTcrent  climates  with 
more  facility  than  others:  th<y  are  a  sort  of  cos- 
mopolitan species,  which  are  found  every  where. 
Thus  we  find  the  same  shells  in  the  Hudson  as  in 
our  seas  and  in  tho  Baltic;  the  same  may  be  found 
in  the  temperate  and  the  trojjical  zones. 

Tho  same  group  which  iiordcrs  Lake  Erie  and 
is  seen  at  Buffalo  forms  the  Black  Rock  of  Buffalo. 
It  is  called  the  Helderbcrg  lime-stone,  because  in 
tho  Hclderberg  Mountains  we  have  no  other  beds 
of  liniistone,  and  upon  thu  fosdls  found  m  them  I 
might  employ  tho  whole  of  eight  lectures  ;  and  you 
might  suppose  that  the  whole  of  geology  was  ore- 
braced  in  their  discussion.  Still  that  is  only  one 
subdivision  of  this  one  stratum,  and  theie  are  bcd.s 
of  Corals  fouiidin  other  limc-stonr ,  aiidin  the  oldest 
Trenton  lime-stone  like  tho  ancient  reefs— the spe- 
cies  being  for  the  most  part  differert  in  each. 
There  are  found  in  the  same  series  of  the  Silurian 
strata  in  England  corresponding  lime-stones  at 
different  stages,  and  occurring  in  the  position  in 
which  they  originally  grew.  They  Imve  the  point 
of  attachment  at  the  bottom  of  the  stratum,  and 
the  upper  part  continues  to  be  uppermost.  Or  if 
they  are  horaisph(M-ieal,  those  which  radiate,  you 
must  determine  by  the  manner  of  radiation  which 
is  tho  base  and  which  the  upper  surface  of  the 
coral,  atul  thus  determine  wliether  it  is  in  its  ori- 
ginal position  or  has  been  overtumed.  Wc  often 
see  them  in  their  natural  position,  us  they  grow, 


h 


rt'^M|U«««>ttl*Mi'Wl>  - 


h 


41 

c    i.v«,v,      n  fni-   T  <ef  no  rcacon  v.l'.y  it    may  not  be  earned         i- 
broken  nn.l  ihrmvn  over,  as  if  by  tlic  lo.rc  m  i  m  „v.,,,,^.io,„  on  the  infer-        I 


,_  1  „,.o«,  in  i.no  i      I  will  now  offor  a  few  observations  on  tlio  infer- 

globe  at  those  very  remote  periods.     Lvcn  tbcmost 
trivii.1  circumstaiRCs  derive   a  great  degree  of  in- 


the  other  near  the  surface ;  because  it  is  known  that 
«orals  Jo  not  grow  in  the  deep,  dark,  cold,  unfath- 


omable abyss  of  the  sea,  but  within  120  feet  of  the 
surface,  enjoying  the  light  and  warmth  of  the  sun. 
Some  of  these  corah  are  a^  large  as  this  tnble,  as 
at  Wiiliamsville,  near  Buffalo.  In  following  for 
a  long  distance,  as  may  bo  done  in  England,  Nor- 
wav  and  Sweden,  this  strata  of  fine  sand  which 
has  formed  this  group,  you  find  no  other  for.sils  but 


torest  from  their  mereantiquity— they  become  con- 
secrated, as  it  were,  by  time.  These  who  walk  in 
the  streets  of  Pompeii  n.'HI  look  with  the  deepest 
interest  and  the  most  lively  curiosity  upon  tlic 
mere  ruts  left  1  y  cnrringes  eighteen  hundred  yearn 
ug«,  which  are  "now  as  distinctin  their  impressions 


has  formed  thisgroup,  you nna  no ou...  ""   =-'    |  J  ^^„^^  ,,,,^0   yesterday:  they  will 

the    GrartolUe,  bclongmg  to  the    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  the  scribbling, 
vhich  the  living  ^pecnnens  are    fr.und   in  muddy    iook  avui   ji  


bottoms.     Beneath  tlwt  ilnc  mud   is  no  example 


in  Greek  of  the  soldiers,   on  the  walls  of  the  bar- 


in  deep  water.  If  you  consider  the  laws  which 
regulate  matter  falling  through  fluids,  you  will  ea- 
sily see  the  truth  of  this :  the  doctrine  of  terminal 
velocities  explains  it.  For  example,  if  you  let  a 
bullet  of  lead  one  inch  in  diameter  fall  through  the 
air  at  the  density  at  which  it  exists  at  the  surface  of 
the  earth  it  will  never  fall  beyond  a  given  rate ;  it 
will  fall  faster  and  faster  from  the  hand  until  it 
reaches  a  rate  of  2G0  feet  in  asecond,  when  it  will 
never  fall  faster ;  fer  the  force  of  gravity  is  a  con- 
stant force,  but  the  resistance  of  the  air  increases 
in  a  geometrical  ratio.  So  in  water :  a  bullet 
would  never  fall  at  a  greater  rate  than  3i  feet  in  a 


buried  under  volcanic  ashes  since  so  remote  a  pe- 
riod. How  mu oh  more  interest  will  the  naturalist 
feel  when  he  examines  the  remains  ofcreaUn-es  be- 
lieved to  have  flourished  on  the  earth— in  water  or 
on  land— thousands  of  years  ago— as  he  finds  them 
in  these  racks  we  have  been  considering. 

Let  us,  then,  endeavor  to  draw  some  inferences 
from  the  study  of  these  animals,  respecting  the 
state  of  the  planet  where  they  lived— how  far  it 
was  similar  to,  different  from,  that  in  which  it 
now;  exists.  Take  first  the  invertehrated,  and 
then  the  vertebrated  animals.  Here  upon  theta- 
f  ie  are  the  remains  of  Trilobitcs,  of  which  there  is 
a  prodigious  number  in  this  country.     It  is  an  ex- 


jn  diameter  it  will  fall  only  one  inch  in  a  second 
instead  of  8i  feet ;  and  so  we  shall  find  tliat  if  it 
be  still  farther  reduced  its  maximum  rate  of  de- 
scent will  be  much  less. 

But  fine  mud  such  as  large  rivers  deliver  into 
the  ocean,  only  falls  at  the  rate  of  about  two  feet 
an  hour.  Now,  suppose  the  mud  to  bo  directed 
into  a  current  like  that  ef  the  Gulf  Stream  for  ex- 
ample, which  runs  at  the  rate  of  three  miles  in  an 
jjour— suppose  it  to  be  delivered  into  the  ecean  by 
the  Amazon  or  some  other  great  river,  and  thrown 
into  this  cuirent,  it  would  be  carried  2000  miles 
by  the  Gulf  Stream  in  a  month,  while  it  was  sink 


hv  the  Gult  stream  m  a  monui,  wmic  im.x=  o...,v      --  .         ,    ,  i  i     „„„ 

bytncwuii                         .1   ..,,.11  i  „,h.>  ocean -and' cient.     These  were  intended— as  we  know  by  rea- 
r.no  fpot  which  IS  no  depth  at  all  intneoceaii.  ana     ^i<=in,.  c,.   . 

UUU  leci,  vvun-u  IB  i „„  ,U„  V,QV,i,a  niif^  structure  of  livins  sue- 


> 


we  have  reason  to  believe  that  the  influence  of  the 
GnlfStream  extends  for  at  least  GOO  feet  below 
the  surface,  as  is  shown  by  its  action  upon  ice- 
bergs. 1  think  Mr.  REDFikLD  will  agree  with  me 
in  saying  that   the  action  of  the  Gulf  Stream  on 


a  genera  now  extinct.  They  are  very  characteris- 
tic of  the  ancient  rocks  in  Europe  and  Asia:  but 
they  are  never  found  in  the  newer  rocks.    Examine 

the  eye for  it  is  a  singidar  circumstance  that  the 

eye  of  some  of  these  creatures  is  preserved  in  a 
most  perfect  manner  in  the  fossil  in  the  mud  in 
which  it  was  buried.  You  find  that  some  species 
have  a  hemispheric  eye— sometimes  placed  upon 
a  pedal.  Here  is  represented  one  consisting  of 
a  great  number  of  facets ;  the  living  dragon 
fly  has  no  less  than  14,000 /acf<s  upon  each  eye. 
Some  of  tlie  living  Crustacea  have  a  great  multi- 
tude and  to  some  e>:tont  they  are  analogous  to  the  an- 


sonisg  upon  the  habits  and  structure  of  living  spe- 
cies nearly  analagous- to  enable  them  to  see  hori- 
zontally by  these  lenses.  The  facets  are  set  so  as 
to  look  in  all  directions  except  one  which  is  sup- 
plied by  the   hemispheric   form  of  the    other  -^ye. 


in  saying  tnai,   uie  ucumi  .-<  i --    --    .  ,  .  :      ,      ,  j    u     r>     «.,^„ 

cnorLus  floating  masses  of  ico  extends   to  that    Hence  it  has  been  justly  observed    ^y   Dr.  Buck^ 
depth.    When  therefore  the  mud  might  be  carried  '  land,  from  an  examination  of  optical  law.,   and 


:;r  :;nd  S  d:  :  U::  r  it:iU;^7;;    rack,  in  tl.  anient   city,   which   has   rem^nc.        j 
of  fine  srmd  1  em.      p ^^^^_^^^    ^^^,^^^  ^^^^^.  ^^^^^.^  ^^,,,^,^  ^^^^^^  3,  ,,„„,e  a  pe- 


imSSSSSSmiStim 


42 


tlifi  rye  to  lijrht,  at  that  remote  period  as  now  ex- 
ists in  every  species.  The  ocean  must  ll.ea  Imve 
l-con  transparent  as  i:  is  now  ;  and  must  have  given 
n  pa.',.a^-,.  to  the  rays  of  light,  and  so  witli  the  al- 
i.u)-pher.'i  and  this  leads  m  on  to  conclude  that 
I  lit'  Sun  existeii  then  a;*  now  and  to  a  great  Vdrie- 
ly  of  other  inferences. 

If  we  turn  to  vertebrated  animals,  Uicrefore,  we 
h.ivo   .sev>  idl    species  of  fi<h,  of  which  tho    parts 
foMnd    were   called    IchlhyodurulUe    before    they 
^vcre  aware  of  tiieir  origin.     It  was  supposed  that 
ihoy  were  some  part  of  a  fish  ;  but  they  aro  now 
Jvnown  to  bo  portions  of  the  firn  spine    or  darsal 
lin,  of  tlic  genus  of  fish,    like  the   living  genera 
called  Ceslraeion.     A   tooth  in  the  jaw  of  a  dif- 
ferent  species   lias   been    found  in  England  in  the 
'ipper  part  of  tiie  Siberian  series.     In  tiiis  country 
geologists  have  traced  the  existence  of  analagous 
speciesof  fish  a  step  lower.  In  several  of  theselub- 
di  visions  there  have  been  found  remains,  but  never 
verlcbrcE  nor  ribs  or  other  parts  of  tho  skeleton ; 
but  bony  tubercles,  &c.  by  which  Mr.  Agassiz  has 
shown  Uiat  they  all  belong  to  a  cartillaginous  fish, 
like  the  .sturgeon ;  in  which  the  external  parts  are 
bony,  while  the  parts  which  in  others  are  bony  in 
these  are  soft;  something  like   the  Crustacea.— 
Still  they  are  as  perfectly   vcrtebratcd   aaimals  as 
any  others. 

What  is  implied  here  in  the  existence  in  the 
rocks  from  this  remote  period  of  these  creatures  is, 
that  they  may  yet  be  traced  back  to  an  organic  be- 
ginning. We  find  here  a  type  of  vcrtcbratod  ani- 
mals—-not  of  a  hign  order,  not  yet  fully  developed, 
nor  yet  of  the  lowest  order.  They  have  tlie  verte- 
bral column,  with  tho  spinal  marrow  terminating 
in  ilio  brain ;  they  have  organs  of  motion  in  the 
orbit  of  the  eye.  There  must,  then,  have  been 
vision,  locomotion,  circulation  of  the  blood,  a  ner- 
vous system— in  short,  we  have  sketched  in  this 
vertobrated  animal  of  the  earliest  period  a  great 
outline  of  the  very  skeleton  which  now  appears  in 
reptiles  and  mammalia,  and  in  man  himself;  and 
this  acquires  the  highest  interest  when  we  find 
this  first  outline  of  that  plan  of  organization  already 
in  existence,  destined,  after  modification  at  differ- 
ont  periods,  to  reappear  in  the  inferior  animals, 
and  in  man  himself. 

It  has  been  a  subject  of  marvel  and  of  incredu- 
lity to  many  to  account  for  the  existence  of  so 
many  races  of  animals  and  plants  which  are  now 
extinct,  which  all  preceded  tho  creation  of  man  on 
>he  Earth.    It  is  often  a-sked  for  what  purpose 


'niJuige,  of  imagining   that   all    tho  works  of  na- 
ture are  produced  okhcr  to  satisfy  tiie  wants  or  to 
minister  to  the  instruction  and  amusement  of  man. 
But    ihown    who  take  a  wide    and  philosophical 
view  ot  the  present  state  (,f  the  creation  must  meet 
With  the  same  dilliculty.     Look  at  the  animalcu- 
la'  in  a  droi.  of  water,  and  you  might  put  the  same 
quosuo.i :  Why  do  these  exist  in  such  myriads,  of 
which  nearly  all  are  invisibie  /     Look,  too.  .a  tho 
thousands  of  shells  and  other  fish  with  which  the 
whole  ocean  teems,  and  which  do  not  come  under 
tho  knowledge  oven  of  the  naturalist.     When  this 
question  presented  itstflf  to  the  mind  ef  our  great 
Poet,  in  the  exerci.o  of  his  high   imagination,  he 
sees  that  beings  might  have  la.ked  over  the  world, 
though  unbeheld  by  man.     He  even  says  that 
'Millions  of  sniritual  creatures  walk  tliis  earth. 
Unseen,  both  when  we  wake  and  when  we  sfeep,' 

mA  had  tho  existence  of  these  countless  creatures 
been  known  to  him  he  might  have  imagined  that 
they  lived  and  moved  under  tho  eye  of  spiritual 
beholders,  though  man  were  not.     And  certainly 
the  light  now  cast  upon  these  periods  by  Science 
makes  them  as  we-derful  and  sublime  as  could 
tho  imagination  of  him  or  of  any  other  poet.    For 
we  find  that  these  creatures,   in  snch  multitudes, 
and  in  such  varieties,  existed  upon  the  Earth  for 
ages,  then  disappeared- dyingand  giving  place  to 
other  races  which  likewise  fur  a  time  inhabited  tl  > 
globe.      But  they  too  perished  and  then  came  the 
period  of  vegetation— of  coal ;    and   all  the  crca- 
tures  that  before  lived  and  flourished  in  the  wa- 
ter gave  place  te  otiier    and   new  varieties.     So 
succeeded  many  oiher  changes-each  greater"  than 
the  first  in  the  catalogue.    Yet  throughall  these  peri- 
ods  of  stupendous  (.-hnnges  we  fin<l  the  same  per- 
fect unity  of  plan— the  same  infinite  wisdom— the 
same  great  outline  of  urganizMti,,,,.     ThroughoHt 
the  whole  universe  and  in  all  these  ancient  periods 
of  the  Earth's  formation  we  see  the  same  great 
laws  prevailing— those  laws  of  organic  and  physi- 
cal  life  which  govern  all  the  revolutions  of  tho  ani- 
mal tribes ;  at  length  we  find  superadded  to  these 
other  ostoological  and  physical  organs  ;  yet  the  typo 
re-appears    not   only  in  the  inferior   animals   but 
linked  with  the  intellectual  and  reasoning  powers 
of  man ;  and  we  find  him  by  the  power  of  tliose 
thoughts  that 

' wander  throagh  eternity,' 

taking  a  retrospect  of  all  ihe.nr,  grmt  periods-ex- 
amining their  characters,  oim3  after  another,  until 
he  arrives  at  the  remotest  period  of  animal  exist- 


i 


I 


43 


ence  and  finds  himself  abh  to  study  ihok  history 
and  the  character  of  their  organization.  Nor  has 
he  merely  the  power  to  deryphor  theso  records; 
but  an  inexhaustible,  infinite  store  of  such  memo- 
rials have  been  written  upon  the  great  rocks  and 
placed,  for  his  instrKction,  in  the  aolld  framework 
of  the  globe 


first  periods   the  convulsions  were  more  violent 
than  those  which  occurred  at  late  epoch. 

But  whether  we  adhere  or  not  to  tlie  opinion  that 
there  has  been  a  great  scries  of  alternations— pe- 
riods of  violence  and  convulsion  followed  by  long 
eras  of  tranquillity -one  thing  is  certain,  that,  from 
the  earliest  period,  wo  have  no  record  of  one  such 


'^'"  ^'"  ,     .    u     ,  V.  ,b    o    opoch-no  knowledge  of  any  .uch  dissolution  of 

When    I  speak  of  the  laws   that  govern  these      ^    .„_,„,    ,„,„,,,^,i  convulsion  in  tlie  crust 


successive  changes,  lam  aware  that  some  persons 
look  upon  the  idea,  that  such  revolutions  in  the  or- 
ganic world  are  governed  by  laws.^as  favoring  the 
doctrines  of  the  Materialist.     But  wo  may  regard 
these  laws— when  given  either  to  the  animate  or 
inanimate    world— as    exponents  fully  to  cxpivsi 
the  will  of  the  Supremo  Being.     A  law  cannot  be 
referred  to  any   thing  material ;  it  belongs  not  to 
the  material  creation;  it  is  higher  than  the  world 
of  matter — it  is  spiritual  in  it*  essence  and  leads 
OS  up  to  the  contemplation  of  one  Immaterial  and 
Spiritual  Lawgiver. 

But  I  will  not  dwell  longer  upon  this  subject,  but 
pass  to  one  more    strictly    geological ;  to  the  con- 
clusions wliich   we   draw   from  finding   the   older 
rocks  in  a  horizontal    position.     It  is   striking  to 
find  in  Europe,  in   great  parts  of  Russia,  in  Swe- 
den and  in  this  country  these  ancient  strata  in  their 
original  horizontal  position.     As  to  the  manner  in 
which  whole  portions  of  the  country  have  been  car- 
ried away  and  left  groat  eliffs  behind,  I  shall  speak 
more  fully  in  my  next  lecture.     You  may  observe 
one  strata  resting  on  another  on  a  level ;  and  this 


? 


stri-ta— no  such  paroxysmal  convulsion  in  tlie  crust 
of  tho  globe  ;  and  had  there  been  any  such  occur- 
rence, it  would  not  be  possible  new  to  find  the  an 
cieut  fossiliferous  rocks  in  their  original  position. 
As  to  tho  fact,  it  i^  true,  that  in  general  wo  find  the 
older  rocks  have   undergone  the  greatest  convul- 
sions ;  and  this  will  be  quite  intelligible  if  we  re- 
fer them  to  volcanic  forces  which  always  shift  their 
points  of  principal  dcvelopement.  There  have  been 
volcanoes,  as  I  stated  in  one  of  my  early  lectures, 
in  districts  where  they  are  now  cxtinct-and  where 
there  is  left  no  vestige  of  volcanic  explosions.  Af- 
ter a  long  period  «f  disturbance  and  convulsion  the 
fires  were  spent  and  then  succeeded  a  period  of 
tranquillity.     It  may  be  shown,  too,  thatin  former 
pciiods  there  were  more  volcanoes  than  during  tne 
more  recent ;  and,  therefore,  if  we  suppose  a  shift- 
ing of  the  principal  points  of  dcvelopement,  which 
veie  near  the  surface  and  attended  by  earthquakes, 
it  would  follow  that  in  time  they  would  extend  over 
a  great  part  of  the  Earth's  surface,  and  we  should 
find,  as  is  the  fact,  in  the  more  ancient  rorks  greater 
convulsions  undergone.     I  should  infer  from  the 
examination  of  all  the  districts  in  which  these  phe- 


one  strata  resting  on  auum^i  «..  ^  »-."•>  - i,-s.iiiiii..^a..v...  «- ,      -.         t  »„  tU\^  «pr 

niav  be  owing  to  the  depression  of  the  sea,  which    „omena  may  be  observed- from  Iowa  to  this  sec 
has'leftthem  exposed,  or,  a.  1   believe  nearly  «"  j  tion  .id  so  through  the  Nonhern^^^^^^^^^^ 
agree,  that  the  beds  themselves  have  b-en  gently 
lifted  up  out  of  the  ocean  and  raised  to  their  pre- 


.  tion  anu  su  iui""8 ■- J.       _  - 

'  and  Asia-that  during  all  the  successive  period! 
there  had  been  prodigious  volcanic  action ;  and  that 


sent  hight,  where  they  remain  in  their  horizontal 
position.  It  isthoughtby  some  that  there  have  been 
alternate  periods  of  repose  and  violence  all  over 
the  earth;  but  it  may  bo  laid  down  as  a  rule  that 
the  more  ancient  the  rock  the  greater  is  the  dis- 
«urbance  that  has  been  suffered ;  because  in  the 


the  areas  of  the  volcanic  districts  during  any  one 
period  had  been  limited  to  comparatively  small 
portions  of  the  surface  of  the  earth. 

With  this  observation  I  will  conclude  my  pre- 
sent lecture;  and  in  my  next  return  to  the  consid- 
eration of  the  Niagara  district. 


HMMi 


HPW 


K^PP 


LECTURE    VII. 


RECESSION  OF  THE 
Vou  will  have  learned  from  what  I  said  in  my 
last  L'vctiire  respecting  the  relative  position  and 
the  ngo  of  tlio  different  rocks  of  which  the  Eiirth's 
crust  i^  composed,  that  the  rocks   of  which  the 
Niagara  district  is  composed,  and  of  which  I  then 
said  something,  belong  to  a  period  of  great  anti- 
quity in  the  Earth's  history.     Below  them  is  only 
one   stratum   in   wliich  may  be  obserN-ed  trace-,  of 
fossiHferous    remains,  and   we   may    regard    this 
group   of  rocks   as    the   most  ancient  respecting 
which  wo  have  any  authentic  information.    Though 
we  are  in  the  habit,  therefore,  of  calling  this  the 
New  World,  from  the  great  developemont  of  an- 
cient rocks  and  the  remarkably  perfect  state  and 
teo  richness  of  their  fossils,  it    is    to    this    New 
World  that  the  geological  antiquary  is  compelled 
to  resort  for  a  knowledge   of  the    most    ancient 
rocke.  Not  only  the  pyramids  themselves,  but  even 
the  lime-stone  rocks  out  ef  which  the  pyramids  are 
built,  arc    things  of  yesterday  compared  with  the 
ancient  rocks  found  in  this  State    of  New- York. 
The  rock  of  which  the  pyramids  are  made  belongs 
to  the  upper  part  of  what  is  called  the  Secondary 
.series ;  the  primary  being  the  lower  and   formerly 
supposed  to  be  older  than  any  that  contain  fossil 
remains,   though  we  now  know  that   this  is  un- 
founded, and  that  they  are  igneous  rocks  that  have 
come  up  at  different  periods.      The  fossiHferous 
rocks,  however,  wore  named  Secondary  as  being 
supposed  to  be  newer  than  the  Primary.      When 
some  other  fossiHferous  strata  were  discovered  in 
Germany — rocks  with  but  faint  traces  of  organic 
remains — Werner,  requiring  for  them  some  new 
name   to  distinguish  them  from  both  the  others, 
•  ailed    them     Transition    rocks,    because    they 
seemed  to  form  a  passage  between  the  crystalHne 
primary  and  the  earthy,  uncrystalline,  secondary 
rocks  of  Germany.     In  the  first  were  found  no  or- 
ganic remains  whilo   the  latter  teemed  with  them. 
But  Werner  went   farther,  and,  finding    that  the 
primary  and  transition  strata  in  the  district  he  ex- 
amined were  highly  inclined  while  the  newer  fos- 
siHferous  rocks  were  horizontal,  he  named  those 
_fldtz  or  flat  rocks.     His  nomenclature  would  then 
run  thus : 

Horizontal, 
Transitive, 
Sscoudary. 

"A  strange  transition  this,"'  says  an  eminent  Eng- 
lish geologist,  "from  primogeniture  to  horizontal- 


PALLS  OP  NIAGARA. 

ity  ;  "  and  in  fact  its  strangeness  is  not  its  only  ob- 
jection i  for,  as  I  told  yon  in  my  last  Lecture,  the 
fossilifcrous  rocks  are,  in  many  districts,  no  moro 
horizontal  than  the  transition  ro<ks ;  and  thi? 
may  bo  seen  through  this  country  to  Iowa — through 
northern  Russia  and  Sweden.  The  others  are  not 
vertical  there,  as  Werner  found  them  in  paits  of 
Germany. 

The  tti)pellation  of  Silurian    '-.  ■       '-.i  given  to 
these  rocks  by  my  friend  Mr.  ^1-  .«,  liocause 

they  characterize  the  ancient  flis.:  ,.  of  Siitn-ia  in 
Wales  and  on  the  borders  of  l^ngland.     We  havo 


therefore  in  this  Niagara  district  a  country  com- 
posed of  the  most  ancient  rocks  yet  discovered  in 
the  Earth's  crust,  and  yet  rich  in  organic  remains. 
I  have  hero  a  map  of  the  district  between  Lake 
Ontario  and  Lake  F^rio.     You  see  represented  the 
Protean  group,  as  it  has  been  named  by  Mr.  Van- 
VXEV,  and  above  that  is  a  bed  of  soft  shales  some 
eighty  feet  in  thickness,  and  upon  the  top  of  that  is 
the  Niagara  lime-stone.     That  lime-stone  extends 
for  seven  miles  from  its  termination  in  the  escarp- 
ment to  a  point  near  the  rapids.      The  River  Nia- 
gara flows  out  of  Lake  Erie  in  a  tranquil,  lake-Hke 
state,  and  runs  gently  along  all  the  way  by  Grand 
Island,  being  on  a  level  with   Lower  Canada  on 
one  side  and  New-York  on  the  other.      So  nearly 
level  is  it  that  were  the  river  to  rise  thirty  feet,  a 
considerable   district    of  country    «n    its    border 
would  be  under  water.      From  Lake   Erie  to  the 
rapids — a  distance  of  sixteen  mil     — the  fall   of 
the  river,  I  believe,  is  not  more  than  twenty  feet ; 
so  that  it  quite  resembles  the  expansion  of  an  arm 
of  Lake  Erie.     The  hight  of  Lake  Erie  above  the 
level  of  the  sea  is  .565  feet;  its  liight  above  Lake 
Ontario  is  334  feet.     This  fall  is  divided  first  into 
the  fall  of  twenty  feet  in  the  sixteen  miles    from 
Lake  Erie  to  the  rapids  ;  then  comes  a  fall  of  forty 
feet  in  half  a  mile  at  the  rapids  ;    at   the    Falls  it 
plunges  at  once  164  feet;   then,  between  the  base 
of  the  Falls  and  Lewiston,  a  distance  of  seven  miles, 
it  rushes  rapidly  along  and  falls  101  feet.     It  is  evi- 
dent that  nil  attempts  nt  representing  the  beauty  and 
grandeur  of  this  scone  by  any  <lrawingmust  be  per 
fectly  unavailing.  I  have  endeavored  in  this  sketch 
to  !jiv(!youa  notion  merely  of  the  geological  situation 
of  the  country.  It  will  of  course  seem  to  those  ac- 
quainted with  it  most  inadequate  and  in  false  pro- 
portion; but  it  mu8t  be  remember^'d  that  it  is  a 


45 


bud's  eye  view-such  as  you  would  actually  get  if 
you  were  raised  above  it  in  a  balloon.     The  first 
idea    of   this    drawing    was   su-gosled   by    Mr. 
BakeWEIX,  »on  of  the  eminent  I'-nglish  geologist 
of  that  nam.,,  who  vi.iied  the  fulls  tenor  twelve 
years  ago.     He  published  his  drawing  in  the  Gen- 
tleman's Mnga/,iMO.     On  my  arrival  iu  tlun  coun- 
try I  considered  in  what  manner  I  could  ir.troduco 
into  his  view  the  ge.logical  structure  of  the  coun- 
try:  and  being  able  to  make  myself  master  «f  the 
rocks  in  that  region,  by  having  Mr.  Haix,  one  of 
the  State  Geologists,    for  a  travelling  companion, 
gooner  than  I   could  otherwise  have  done,  I  pre- 
pared surh  a  one,  which  has  been  copied,  as   you 
now  see  it  by  Mr.  Russel  Smith  of  I'hikdelphuv- 
who,    though  unacquaMited  with  the    country,  en- 
tered so  completely  into  the  conception  that  he  has 
given  an  excellent  representation  of  its  prominent 
geological  features. 

Three  miles  below  the  Fall  is  the  Whirlpool ; 
nnd  just   bdow  that  is   a  deep  ravine,    called  the 
Bloody  Run,  from  an  Indian  tight  which  occurred 
there ;  there  i«  also  another  ravine  some  ten  miles 
below,of  which  I  shall  have  occasion  to  speak.  The 
first  feature  which  strikes  you  in  this  region  is  the 
Kscarpment,   or  line  of  inland  cliff,  one  of  which 
run.  to  a  great  distance  East  from  Queenstown.- 
Ou  the  Canadian  side  it  has  a  bight   of  more  than 
300  feet.     The  other  is  found  at    the  junction  of 
the  Black    Rock  of  Buffalo  with  tho  shales-and 
gypseous    marls,  as  they  are  called.     I  shall  not 
stop   to   describe  mineralogically    these    various 
groups.     They  are  sets  of  soft  mails  which  contain 
gypsum  and   so  much  salt  that  they   arc   often 
called  salifeious  gypsums. 

Tho  first  question  that  occurs  when  we  consider 
the  nature  of  the  country  is,  how  the  cliffs  were 
produced:  why  do  we  so  suddenly  step  from  this 
range  to  the  gypseous  marls  and  then  as  sudc  only 
to  the  subjacent  shale  and  sandstone.  We  have 
similar  lines  of  escarpment  in  all  countries,  espe- 
cially where  the  rock  is  limestone  ;  md  they  are 
considered  to  be  ancient  set  cliffs  which  have 
become  more  gentle  in  their  slope  .s  the  coun- 
try  has  emerged  from  the  ocean.  If  we  exa- 
mine what  is  now  going  on  on  the  sea-side,  and 
reflect  what  would  happen  if  the  soa  clilf.  should 
be  raised  up  as  the  country  around    was  gradually 


the  oca  has  evidently  retired  half  a  mile,)  wo  sec 

tho  edges  of  tho  strata  cropping  out  between  high 

and  low  water  mark.     Fifty  years  ago  this  cliff  was 

3000  feet  high,  as  wo  see  from  its  present  position. 

I  have  myself  seen  frigates  floating  in  places  where 

wo  know  historically  that  land  existed  but  a   few 

years  since.     The  waves  have   beaten  against   the 

base  of  the  rock,  and  brokpn  off  fragments  which 

have  fallen  down  and  been  swej)!  away  by  the  tide 

i.n  the  shape  of  mud  and  pebbl.M,  until  a  whole  yard 

of  the  coast  has  given  way  in  a  single  year.    In  the 

rourse  of  time  a  considerable  part  of  tho  rock  is 

swept  away.     The  shale  and  sandstone  would  thus 

bo  swept  away,  and   the  formation   of  the  inland 

cliffs  would  bo  easily  accounted  for. 

You  may  perhaps  ask  if  tho  Ontario  may  not 
once  have  stood  at   a  higher  level  and  the  cliffs 
have  been  produced  by  its  action  instead  of  that 
of  the  ocean.     Some  of  you  may  have  rode  along 
the  Ridge-road— as  it  is  called— that  remarkable 
bank  of   sand    which  exists  parallel,  or  nearly  eo, 
to  the  present  borders  of  Lake   Ontario,  at  a  con- 
siderable hight  above  it.     I  pefectly  agree  with  the 
general   opinion  respecting  this  :    that  it   was  the 
ancient  boundary  of  Lake  Ontario.     In  some  part, 
of  it  fresh  water  shells  havo  been  found.     You  can- 
not  explain  the  escarpement  by  the  aid  of  the  action 
of  the  lake,  for  it  extends  farther  and  not  in  tho 
same  direction.     It  may  be  traced  to  the  Hudson 
River  and  is  not  peculiar  to  any  locality  ;  but  may 
be  traced  in  all   parts  of  the   globe.      When   the 
land  emerged  gradually  from  the  sea,  as  it  is  now 
doing,  the  sea  would  naturally  create  these  sea- 
cliffs"  and  during  the  upheaval  they  would  of  course 
become   inland.     In  Europe  proofs  that  limestone 
rocks  have  been  washed  away  are  abundant.     In 
Greece  in  the  Morea  this  is  especially  conspicuous. 
We  have  there   three  limestones  one  above  the 
other  at  various  distances  above  the  sea.     Along 
the  line  you  may  see   literal  caves— worn   out   by 
the  action  of  the  waves.     In  many  of  them  are 
fra-ments  of  the  limestone  which  have  fallen  down 
and  are  perforated  by  the  lithodomi,  nnd  yeu  can 
find  among  them  shells  of  the  Strombus,  and  va- 
rious kinds  of  shells.     The  action  of  the  salt  spray 
which  has  also  effected  a  sort  of  chemical  decom- 
position, is  also  easily  to  be  observed.     So  com- 
pletely is  this  thecaso  with  each  of  these  lines  that 


be  raised  up  as  the  country  arouna    ..»  ..a.u.  ,     ^^  ^^^  ^„  .„3,,„,  that  here   is  a  se 

,  ,c     T »  ,,„,,  nro  now  familiar  willi  tins    you  cannoL  uuuui,  lui 

raised  (for  I  tru.t  you  are  now  tamu  j         .-  i„„,,  ....HiiVs:  and  this  phenomenon  bem, 


notion  of  upheaval)  you  will  readily  see  how  these 
oscarpments  are  formed.  There  arc  similar  ap- 
^_„..,  „.  Boulogne,  in  France,  where  we  have 
dtematr  ods  of  limestone  and  clay,  and  between 
the  base  of  the  cliff  and  the  present  sea  sl.wre.  (for 


rios  of  inland  sea-cliifs ;  and  this  phenomenon  being 
so  certain  in  the  Morea  leads  us  by  analogy  to  infer 
that  these  escarpements  of  the  Niagara  district  were 
produced  by  a  similar  cause. 

Other  proofs  of  this  denudation  exist  in  thesur- 


46 


face  of  every  country  and  especially  in  the  coal 
district  of  Knglund.  Thoro  in  the  coal  field  of 
Ashl)y  do  la  Zouch  in  Leicestershire  y«tu  soccoal- 
bcdi  pushed  uft  r)00  foot  higher  on  one  sido  than 
ihiiy  uro  on  tho  other — or  tlu-ro  has  been  a  lotting 
down  of  tlio  other  Bide.  This  is  called  by  tho 
miners  n  fault.  You  would  expoct  to  find  a  corres- 
ponding ineijualify  in  tl^e  surface  ;  you  would  think 
you  ought  to  find  a  line  of  hills  r>00  feet  high;  but 
thoro  i:i  none.  The  whole  mass  hm  been  carried 
away  ami  the  surfaee  is  us  smooth  and  unbroken 
us  in  any  other  part  of  tho  country.  In  this  wav 
wc  can  see  that  thousands  of  feet  of  earth  nnist 
have  been  removed  for  an  extent  of  twenty  or 
thirty  miles.  When  wc  examine  the  subterranean 
Blructure  of  the  countiy  we  find  proofs  of  such  a 
denudation  ;  and  this  it  may  be  said  has  occurred 
ill  the  Niagara  District,  either  forcing  up  tho 
clifl's  or  letting  down  tho  lower   country  iKitwoen 


hunter,  wc  shall  think  it  surprising  that  we  have 
any  observations  at  all,  oven  for  such  a  period  back. 
We  have  an  aceount  of  the  Falls,  given  in  1675  by 
Father  IlENNKiMN,a  French  Missionury,  who  gives 
nn  exaggerated  description  of  them,  and  yot  »nc 
which  is  tolerably  correct.  lie  published  with  hiu 
tmvels  a  plate  rei)iv8entating  the  Fall ;  but  it 
greatly  exnggeratt.-d  its  liight  compared  with  ltd 
width.  Ho  describes  Gout  Island  just  as  it  is 
found  now.  Mo  estimates  tho  bight  of  tho  Fulln 
at  doubh!  what  it  actually  is,  which,  after  all,  re- 
moinbering  that  he  did  not  measure  them  is  not  so 
gross  as  might  apj)ear ;  and  any  one  who  has  wit- 
nessed them  will  readily  cxctiso  him  for  having 
given  way  to  a  hlllo  exaggeration  in  attempting  to 
describe  the  grandeur  and  magnificence  of  tho 
scene,  without  the  slightest  intention  to  deceive. 
As  you  will  see  by  this  copy  of  his  picture  ho 
represents  a  cascailo  as  falling  from  tho  Canada 


the  base  of  the  escarpment  and   Lake  Ontario. —    ''ide  across  the  other  two.     He  says  that  between 


But  an  examination  of  the  country  will  satisfy  jou 
that  the  dill's  could  not  havo  been  thus  produced. 
The  rocks  are  continued  on  tho  other  side.  There 
are  first  the  1.50  feet  of  ;dial(!,  then  25  feet  of  white 
limestone  and  thi*n  the  grey  and  mottled  lime- 
stone, giving  three  great  divisions  and  a  great 
number  of  subdivisions,  in  which  the  beds  can  be 
traced  and  described  by  their  orgiiuic  remains. — 
If  these  cHflswere  produced  by  a  fault,  ag  in  Eng- 
land the  beds  would  notbc  found  upon  the  opposite 
aide. 

But  without  dwelling  longer  on  this  denudation, 
I  must  pass  to  the  more  immediate  subject  of  the 
present  lecture,  t  have  endeavored  to  show  that 
thoso  lines  of  escarpment  were  originally  sea-clitl's, 
formed  when  tho  district  was  gradually  emerging 
from  the  ocean.  It  is  not  disputed  that  there  is 
some  change  going  on  at  the  Falls  oven  now. — 
There  occurs,  as  we  know,  occasionally  a  falling 
down  of  fragments  of  rock,  as  may  be  seen  in  Goat 
Island.     Tho  shale  at  tho  bottom  is;  destroyed  in 

consequence  of  the  action  of  tho  spray  and  frost 

the  limestone  being  thus  undermined  falls  down — 
and  it  iias  been  believed  that  in  this  way  there  has 
been  a  recession  of  fifty  yards  in  about  forty  years ; 
but  this  is  now  generally  admitted  to  have  been 
overstated.  There  is  at  least  a  probable  recession 
of  about  one  foot  in  a  year ;  though  part  of  tlie 
Fall  may  go  back  faster  than  tiiis,  yet  if  you  regard 
tlie'whole  rivereven  this  will  probably  be  something 
of  an  exaggeration.  Our  observations  uponthispoint 
arc  necessarily  imperfect  •  and  when  we  rcflei^t  th.it 
fifty  years  ago  tho  countiy  was  perfectly  wild  and 
inhabited  by  bear*,  wolves,  and  here  and  there  a 


Lake  Erie  and  Lake  Ontario  :lierc  is  a  vast  and 
wonderful  waterfall :  after  speaking  of  this  he  says 
that  there  is  a  third  cascade  at  the  left  of  tho 
other  two,  falling  from  West  to  East— the  others 
falling  from  South  to  North.  He  says  in  anothar 
place,  '  I  wished  a  hundred  times  some  one  had 
been  with  mo  who  could  describe  tho  wonders  of 
this  frightful  fall.'  He  several  times  alludes  to 
the  third  cascade  which  he  says  was  smaller  than 
the  other  two.  Now  those,  who  consider  that  be- 
cause Father  Hennepin  gave  the  hight  of  tho 
Falls  at  COO  feet,  small  value  is  to  bo  attached  to 
his  testimony  respecting  any  part  of  the  countr)-, 
do  him  injustice.  I  think  it  perfectly  evident  that 
there  must  have  been  such  a  third  cascade,  fallinjr 
from  West  to  East,  as  that  to  which  ho  alludes. 

A  Danish  naturalist,  in  1750,  came  to  this  coun- 
try, and  visited  the  Fall.i,  of  which  he  has  also  given 
us  a  description,  which  was  published  in  the  Gen- 
tleman's Maga7.ine  in  1751.  He  also  gives  aview 
of  the  Falls.  In  its  general  features  his  descrip- 
tion agrees  well  with  that  of  Father  Hennepin.— 
He  went  seventy-three  years  after  him,  and  there 
was  then  no  third  cascade.  But  the  point 
where  Father  H.had  put  this  cascade  helms  mark- 
ed and  says  Uiat  '  that  is  tho  place  where  tho 
water  was  forced  out  of  its  direct  course  by 
a  prodigious  rock  which  turned  the  water  and 
obliged  it  to  fall  across  the  falls,'  He  goes  on 
to  say  that  only  a  few  years  before  there  had  been 
a  downfall  of  that  rock,  which  was  undoubtedly  part 
of  Table  Rock — and  after  that  the  cascade  ceased 
to  flow.  Now,  it  does  not  appear  whether  ho  had 
ever  seen  Hennepin's  account  or  notes.  He 
only   mentions   the  fact  that  there   bad   been  a 


1 


i 


47 

tVih-a  ca9ca.lo  ;  and  it  U  a    Btriking    confirmntioii 
of   Iho    g.nenil    ftr.uriu-y  of   Father    Hennepin's 
do9criptio«.      Wo    (ind  thcBO    two   observer*,  at 
an    interval    of    w^venty    yoars    apart,    rcmarli- 
ing  on  the   very  kind  of  chauj,  .   which  wc  now 
remark  us  liaviiig  taken  pluco  within  tho  lai-t  lifty 
years;  an  underjiining  of  the  rock,  and  a  fulling 
down  of  thrt  linicslono,  and  a  conseqnent  oblitera- 
tion of  tlic   fall.     Everyone   who  has  visited    tho 
Falls,  on  inquiring  of  the  guides  about  tho  changes 
that  have  taken  place,  may  have  been  told  that  tho 
American  Full  has  become   more  rcscent  shaped 
than  it  was  thirty  years  ago,  when  it  was  nearly 
straight.     The    centre  has  given  way,    and  now 
there  is  a*  iiidenlaiion  of  nearly  thirty  feet.     The 
Horschoe  Fall,iil^o,has  been  considerably  altered. 
It  is  not  of  so  rcgul.ir  a  reacent  shape  as  formerly, 
but  has  a  more  ja;?ed    outline— especially    near 
Ooat    Island;  itlwiless  of  tho  Horseshoc-shape, 
from  which  it  derives  its  name,  than  when  it  was 
given. 


It  is  (^uite  evident  that  things  there  ore  not  sta- 
tionary, and  tho  great  question  is,  whether  by  this 
action  tho  whole  fall   has   been  produced  in  this 
manner.     I  have  visited  this  year  the  Falls  of  the 
Goncsoe  both  at  Porta  go  and  Rochester,  and  ob- 
tained many  facts,  especially  at  the  upper  fall,  of 
thisrecessionon  a   small  scale.     I  made   like  ob- 
servations at  Lc  Roy,  at  Jacock's  Run  near  Gene- 
960  and  in  other  iilaces  where  it  is  impossible  to  go 
far  back ;  for  there  time  immemorial  is  oidy  about 
ten  years.     But  the  people  there  will  tell  you  there 
has  been  a  change  of  a  few  feet  or  yards  within  this 
time.     Mr.  Hall  observed   a  recession  of  several 
feet  since  ho  surveyed  the  same   district    a    few 
years   before.      It  is  highly  probable,  therefore, 
that  there  has  been  an  action  of  this  sort  constantly 

going  on. 

From  representations  made  by  other  travellers 
I  was  desirous  of  ascertaining  whether  fresh  water 
remains  were  found  on  Goat  Island  as  had  been 
said:    for  it  would  be   striking  if  on   this  Island 
tliere  should  bo  in  a  stratum  of  twenty -five  feet  of 
sand  and  loam,  pebbles  and  fresh  water  shells. 
They  were  found  there  and  I  made  a  collection  of 
Several  species    of  shells   found   on  the    Island; 
among  them  were  the  Planorlis,  a  small  Valvata 
and   several  other  kinds.     They  were   of  genera 
found  living  either  in  tho  rapids,  is  the  river  above 
or  in  the  Lake. 

In  diggiHg  a  mill-racfc  there  only  a  few  years 
eincc,  thf^ro.  were  found  a  great  number  of  shells, 
and  also  the  tooth  ef  a  Mastodon,  some  twelve  or 
thirteen  feet  below  the  surface.     It  was  th«  com- 


S 

mon  Ohio  Mastodon,  and  must  have  been  buric         » 
beneath  thene  twelve  or  thirteen  feet  of  fresh  water       f 
deposits— one  luyer  at  u  tiniP,  each  containing  dif-        ' 
fcrunt  shells.     In  answer  to  my  question,  whether 
similar  shells  were  over  found  lower  dow«,  the       ^ 
guide  said  ho  would  take  me  to  a  place  half  a  mile 
below,  where  the  strata  had  been  laid  open.     Wo 
found  there  ileposited  in  iko  roik  a  small  quantity 
of  fresh  water  shells,  showing  that   this  old  depo- 
sition extended  down  t^)  tliat  distance.     Hero  we        i 
have  proof  that   tho   river  once  stood  at  a  higher       j 
level  and  in  a  tranquil  stale ;  and  there  is  every       | 
appearance  of  thu   rock  having  been  like  a  9«lid       j 
barrier  to   hold    the   waters  back  in    a   lake-Hke 
state,  BO  that  they  might  throw  down  these  fresh 
water  deposites  at  that  hight.     You  will  understand 
this  better  if  you  consider  that  if  the  Falls  go  on 
recttdiug,  no  matter  at  what  rate— an  inch,  a  foot, 
a  yard  in  a  year— in  tho  course  of  time  the  whole 
must  recede  considerably  from  its  present  condi- 
tion.    What  proofs  should  wo  have  of  this  after- 
wards ?    You  will  easilv  see  that  if  tho  river  should 
cut  its  way  back  to  a  certain  point,  the  effect  would 
be  to  remove  tho  rocky  barrier,  tho  limestone  of 
the  rapids,  which  had  been  sufficient  to  pond  the 
'  river  back.     But  if  tho  river  cuts  its  way  back,  this 
barrier  could  no  longer  exist;  the  channel  would 
be  deepened,  and  the  deposites  existing  high  and 
dry  upon  tho  land  would  become  proof  of  the  re- 
cession.    This  kind  of  proof  wo  have  that  the 
Falls  have  receded  three  miles  from  the  whirlpool, 
the  limestone  having  beoH  higher  at  the  whirlpool 
than  the  river  at  the  Falls.     It  may  be  well  to  say 
that  the  beds  all  dip  to  tho  south,  at  a  rate  of 
about  twenty-five  feet  in  a  mile.     In  seven  miles 
the  dip  causes  a  general  rise  of  the  platform  to 
the  north,  so  that,  when  at  the  top  of  the  cliff,  you 
are  at  a  greater  hight  than  the  level  of  Laka  Erie ; 
and  if  tho  Falls  were  formcriy  at  Lewiston,  their 
hight  was  probably  nearly  double  what  it  now  is. 
Mr.  HaT-L  suggested  that  at  that  time  the  whole 
fall  was  not  at  one  place,  and  I  think  it  (^uite 
likely  that  that  was  tho  case.     There  is  reason  to 
believe  that  one  fall  was  upon  tho  quartzose  sand 
below,  and  tho  other  on  the  Protean  bed.     The  up- 
per part  would  of  course  recede   faster  than  the 
lower,  because  it  is  softer,  as  is  seen  to  be  the  c'\se 
at  Rochester;  but  the  limestone  becoming  thicker 
and   harder  would  recede  more  slowly.     There 
may  have  been  several  falls,  as  at  Rochester— each 
one  of  them  being  less  high  than  at  present,  and 
yet  the  whole  being  nearly  double  its  present  hight. 
I  told  you  that  the  river  fell  about  100  feet  be- 
tween the  base  of  the  Falls  and  Lewiston— bo  Umt 


I 


mm 


ih<!   Iwd-i    -.lojw   at  that  ,ato.     This  sloi.o  ..f 


48 


the 


rivor  and  iluMi  tlw  upward  aUtpo.  of  th.i  i-liuConii 
orp  tlio  masons  why  the  fall*  now  aio  of  Iohs  hight 
than  foimnrly.  So  when  wo  cany  oiiim'Ivch  huck 
in  imagination  to  tho  time  when  th«!  liver  had  not 
receded  so  fur,  wo  liav.i  a  barrier  of  limo*tonc 
much  higlKT.  Till,  viill.«y  in  which  ^]u^  river  thou 
flowed  mu*t  have  been  much  narrower  than  its 
prJHoni  ravine.  Tho  distance  now  from  the  Can- 
ii<la  to  tlie  Americnu  fide  is  about  thrco-quartors 
of  a  mile,  whereu-i  half  a  niiiu  below  it  is  only 
Imlf  that  width.  Farther  investigations  l.-y  tra'- 
<-ing  tho  fresh  water  depositcs  lower  will  give 
more  precise  Information. 

You  might  suppose  that,  if  wo  find  the  remains 
of  a  Mastodon  in  a  fros}i  water  deposito  so  lately 
laid  dry  as  tliat  near  tho  village  of  Niagara  and 
only  twelve  feet  below  tho  surface,  tho  Mastodon 
had  livjd  in  the  coimtry  at  a  modern  period:  you 
might  think  that  perhaps  a  few  centuries  would 
have  been  surticient  for  the  accumulation  of  twelve 
feet  of  shelly  sandstone  and  limestone  and  that  it 
may  have  boon  recently  that  this  Mastodon  was 
buried  when  the  barrier  was  at  tho  whirlpool  be- 
fore this  twelve  feet  of /luviatilo  strata  wercdeposi  ted. 
Yet  thosa  strata  are  older  than  tho  whirlpool. 

Among  the  objections  to  the  supposition  that 
the  ravine  was  cut  out  by  tho  Niagara,  ono  is  that 
at  the  place  called  the  Devil's  Holo  or  (he  Bloody 
Run,  the  :avine  must  have  been  cut  by  some  more 
powerful  cause  than  by  a  slight  stream.      But  this 
I  regard  as  no  objection  at  all ;    fot'  on  examining 
the  nature  of  the  soil,   &c.    I  am  convinced  thai 
even  tho  small  stream  which  now  flows  would  have 
been  perfectly  competent  to  have  cut  out  ilio  ra- 
vine, nnd  that  wo  need  look  for  no  more  powerful 
cause.     Suppose  the  Falls  once  to  have  been  near 
Lewiston     it  would  recede  diflferenily  at  different 
times— faster  when  tho    soft  shales    were  at  the 
base;    at  other  times  slowly  when  the  hard  sand- 
stone was  to  be  cut  through.     First  of  all  came  the 
quartzoso  sandstoTiefor  a   certain  distance;   then 
the  Falls  receded  slowly,  but  more  rapidly  when  it 
come  to  the  soft  shales.      Then  comes  the  sand- 
stone again  at  the  base  which  now  extends  to  the 
whirlpool,  and  here  the  movement  was  slow.     It 
probably  stood  for  a^es  at  the  whirlpool.      Then 
for  another  period  it  receded  more  rapidly;  and  it 
u  piobuble  that  for  the  last  mile  its  recession  has 
been   comparatively   slow,   because   the    Protean 
group  and  about  twenty  feet  of  sandstone,  making 
about  fifty  feef  of  hard  rock  at  the  base,  were  to 
be  cut  through.      It  is  certain  that  the  movement 
now  is  at  a  faster  rate,  as  the  shale  is  exposed.    If 


it   nrrde«  ono   ftn.t   in   a  year,  then  in  about  five 
thousand  years  it  would  recede  a  mile;  ond  ns  the 
upward  slope  of  tho  bed  of  the  river  is  about  fifteen 
feet  in  a  mile,  and  at  the  bed's  dip  to  tho  south  in 
about  twenty-live   feet  in  a   mile,  we  must  have 
about  forty  feet  for  tho  Ions  in  bight  of  tho  Fulls 
by  the  receding  of  one  mile.     Another  Tj.OOO  years 
would  cause  tho  loss  of  another  forty  feet,  anJ  then 
eighty  feet  woii'd  liuvo   disappeared  nnd  the  cata- 
ract would  full  over  a  solid  mass  of  limestone  only 
eighty   feet    high.      Thus,  at   tho   end    of   10,000 
years,  when  the  Fulls  shall  have  receded  two  miles, 
th.  y  would  bo  eighty  feet  high.       Tho  recession 
then  would  bo  extremely  slow,  as  tho  base  would 
bo  of  solid  limestone. 

But  all  these  culculations  would  be  easily  vitia- 
ted by  disturbing  causes.  Thus  by  interfering 
with  the  bor'.y  of  water  above  tho  fall— by  carrying 
them  oway,  as  is  now  done  by  tho  Erie  Canal 
and  tho  Welland  Canal  in  Canada  we  should  have 
a  diderent  state  of  affairs.  All  tho  water  taken 
from  the  upper  lakes,  as  by  tlio  Illinois  canal,  &c. 
clients  the  Niagara  of  its  waters  and  acts  as  a  dis- 
turbing  force.  Every  mill  race  built  above  tho 
falls  has  the  samo  effect :  and  though  this  may 
seem  to  be  a  trifling  matter,  still  in  tho  progress 
of  population  and  civilization  such  things  may  bo 
frequeBtly  perpetrated  and  thus,  in  the  end  have 
a  serious  influence. 

It  has  been  estimated  that  about  in, 000, 000  of 
cubic  feot  fall  over  the  cataract  in  every  minute : 
this  was  ascertained  by  an  engineer  under  the  di- 
rection of  Mr.  RuoGLKS.  By  all  the  causes  T  have 
mentioned,  perhaps  one  four-hundredthpart  of  this 
may  be  diverted  into  other  directions;  and  this  is 
certainly  un  appreciable  fiuantity,  and  might  have 
no  inconsiderable  efTect  in  tho  progress  of  tho  re- 
cession. I  only  mention  this  as  oneof  tho  disturb- 
ing causes  which  may  vitiate  all  the  calculations 
of  which  I  spoke.  The  movement  of  the  whole 
country  which  I  have  before  alluded  to  may  be 
another  cause  of  disturbance.  It  is  extremely 
probable  that  during  tho  p?riod  when  tho  Falls 
were  receding  from  the  whirlpool  there  may  have 

been  an  upward, or  downward, orperhaps  an  oscillat- 
ing movement  of  the  whole  country.  This  would 
leave  whole  cliffs  exposed,  as  has  been  done  in 
(Jther  localities  in  the  St.  Lawrence,  of  which  you 
have  here  a  rei)resontation— where  columns  of  lime- 
stone are  standing,  perforated  at  different  bights 
by  tho  lithodomi.  The  samo  motion  may  have  ex- 
tended to  the  great  lakes  and  have  affected  tliis 
whole  section  of  country.  You  will  see,  there- 
fore,  what  a  variety  of  different  causes  wo  have  to 
regard  in  making  any  estimate  of  tho  former 
state  of  this  District. 


I 


LECTURE     VIII 


f 


T»IK  HubjtTt  i»f  whirh  I  shall  trriu  to-nij^lit  i« 
what  wo  term  llio   liouhler  Formation,  or  somii- 
times  tho  Norfolk  Drift.     Tlio  term  l>ouliltjr  is  ap- 
plied to  any  large  maHs   fouml  rcatinjif  upon  thi' 
B«pcrficial   gravi'l  brought  from  a   distance.     Hy 
Bome,  cliietty  tlio  writers   of  tlio  luMt  forty  yciu:), 
this  formation  is  called  diluvial ;  because  they  be- 
lieve that  this   ('U|icrtiiniil  p;ravel,    rind  sand,  and 
mud,  ill  wliich  are  found  thi'se  rounded  fragments 
of  rock,  have  been  brouglit  iliitlicr  by  a  rush  of 
some  mighty  deluge,  either  ut  one  time  or  at  dif- 
ferent periodr*.     But  those  who  have  thought  lluit 
they  saw  reason   ta  refer  u  large  part  of  this  to 
other  causes  prefer  tho  term  Drift — as  not  clioos- 
i!     to  commit  themselves  to  ony  piirlictiiar  liieory 
c:ti,opt  that   w'.'ieh   is  certainly  known  to  be  true, 
that  those  boulders  have  been  drifted,  by  gome 
means  or  other,   to   a   considt^ruble  distance  from 
Uie  parent  rocks,  from  which,   as  fiagmcnts,  tliey 
have  been  torn.     You  have  so  many  examples  in 
this    ccuniry,   of    these    foreign    rockri   lieatterod 
through  beds  of  sund  and  mutl,  that  it  u  not  iie- 
ecssary  for  mo   to    enter   iipon  tho  description  of 
any  particular  localities  in  Europe.     If  you  j)asb 
by  tho  great  e:-i.cavulionii  tluit  liavo  been  made  for 
streets   in  Brooklyn,  you  m:iy  iiee  some  fully  or 
fifty  feet  in  thickness  of  what  we  call  rubbish,  an 
unstratiilcd,  confused  mass  of  clay  and  sand,  con- 
taining fragments  of  rock  of  various  kinds.     This 
nay  bo  seen  near  the  Navy  Yard,  and  in  all  parts 
of  the  suburbs  of  the  city.     Tho  same  kind  of  for- 
mation may  be  seen  in  various  parts  of  the  Noith 
of  Europe,  as  well  as  in  different  districts  of  this 
Continent.     In  Europe,  it  is  particularly  notice- 
able in  the  country  bordering  the   Baltic,   begin- 
ningwith  Finland,  und  through  part  i*f  Russia  and 
Poland,    to   I'omcrania,  Prussia,  and    Denmark, 
through  the   lower  part  of  SwcdvMi.     The  wliole 
country  consists  of  land  at  a  moderate  elevation, 
covered,  to  depths  that  have  never  been  pierced, 
with  tliis  boulder  formation,  sometimes  a  thousand 
feet  thick,  and  often,  indeed,  still  more.     It  con- 
tains no  strata;  and  you  would  becomo  sensible, 
after  having  made  a  geological  survey,  how  very 
rare  arc  unsiratiiicd  rocks  wtiich  are  n«t  crystal- 
line, like  graidte.     Sometimes  wo  find  the  boulder 
formation,  entirely  unstratificd,  passing  into  ano- 
ther strata  whicli  is  arranged  in  layers.     The  ab- 
sence of  fossils — of  organic   remains — is  another 


BOITLDRRS  AND  ICEBERO.S. 

rbiracteriHtic  wliich  makas  It  difficult  to  decide 
the  nutiiie  or  origin  of  this  formation ;— whether 
it  bo  fresh-water,  formed  in  lake*,  or  a  murine  fur- 

nmiion,  formed  in  the  Hoa — is  a  matter  of  great 
doulit  from  tho  ubsenco  of  uU  organic  remains. 
Sometimes,  indeed,  we  have  found  shellu  and 
bones  washed  out  of  tho  older  rocks  ;  for,  rolii- 
tively  speaking,  this  is  a  modern  doposite — being 
strewed  over  other  strata  containing  fragments  of 
them  all,  and  occasionally  of  their  imbedded  fos- 
nili).  Soiiiotimeiii,  two,  we  find  them  alternately  of 
strutiliud  and  anstratified  rocks. 

Ill    tiucing    along    this    remarkable    deposite 
through  the  borders  of  tho    Bullic,  wo  sometimes 
find  fnigmcHts  of  rock  which  must  hove  traveled 
hundreds  of  miles  frona  their  point  of  departure, 
and,  us  a  general  thing,  wo  sliall  find  that  thsy 
grow  larger  in  size  us   we   approach  tho  region 
fnjm  wliich  they  vvero  derived.     This   I  foaud  to 
be  the  fact  in  going  norlii  from  tho  margin  of  tho 
Rliiiio  to  Ilolstein,  and   Denmark,  where  I  found 
fragments  of  Scardinavian  rocks,  in  Sweden  nine 
and  sometimes  forty  feet  in  diameter;  und  at  last 
the  wliole  country   was  made  up   of  these   rocks. 
Thus  by  tracing   tho  stream  along,  we  shall  find 
that  as  it  diminishes  in  size  the  stones  continually 
diminish  in    their   individual    dimensions      This 
may  bo  seen  any  where  between  tho  Thames  and 
tlio  Tine,  and  by  following  it  out  in  any  region  you 
will  become  convinced  that  there  has  been  a  gen- 
eral drift  from  the  north.     You  may  travel    for 
eight  or  nine  hundred  miles  over  the  plains  of  Rus- 
sia, and  you  will  find  these  Erratics,  as  they  arc 
called,  associated  to  such  an  extent  with  the  rocks 
in    tlie    neighborhood,  or  immediately  subjacent, 
that  they  have  acquired  tho  color  and  mineralogical 
character  of  the  rocks  of  each  country.     If,  for 
example,  you  trace  the   boulders  to  the  red  sand- 
stone of  New  Jersey,  you  will  find   them  red.    Se 
at  Brooklyn,  you  will   find  that  in  great  part  thoy 
are  rod.     Yet  here  in  the  red  base  you  find  scatter- 
ed fragments  of  the  trap  of  the  Palisades,  hugo 
masses  of  granite  from  the  Highlands,  and  somo 
of  tlio  green    serpentine  of  Ilisboken,  all  mixed 
together,  and  yet  the  whole  reddened  by  tho  colors 
and  m  irkcd  by  the   character,  of  the    adjoining 
sands'one.     So  in  Europe,  the  boulders  are  white 
in  th'j  chalk  cf  Scandinavia ;  black  in  the    carbo- 
nircious  formation  near  Edinburgh,  where  the  bitu- 


^SEffiSSsa** 


50 


minotis  ilmlo  nf  tlio  coal  formation  nntor«  largely 
liiiii  i!  •  ir  comiiogitiori.  Sometiinoit  you  Gnd  them 
entirely  angular,  at  if  ihry  liud  not  NuiTorml  any  of 
that  nifeliaiiical  rulihiiig  nf^iiiuHt  luljuining  rocki^, 
or  ogaiii»l  each  other,  which  hux  juMfnatly  rounded 
other  iwdH-ies  fijually  large.  Some  of  thouo  ar«  »o 
largo  that  it  is  diilicult  to  imngino  that  any  f<rrc  of 
water,  which  it  tho  ngont  iisniilly  ansigned,  could 
Iw  suiricioHt  to  roll  thuin  over  and  over  an  h  noceMsu- 
ry.  Tako  *omo  of  th"  gneiss  for  instance  :  tho  edg- 
es of  sonio  hugo  masses  havo  heon  cut  oflT,  so  thut 
tho  wholo  is  us  porl'tictly  roundeil  a;*  any  of  tho 
smallur  ix-bbles.  Uftentimes,  too,  thcso  largo 
bouldor.-t  have  been  carried  across  seas — as  from 
th«  Scandniuvian  rocks  to  tho  south  side  of  tho 
Ualtio.  We  have  them  too,  perched  upon  the 
Jura  peaks,  having  evidoiiily  been  carried  from  the 
higher  Alps  over  a  valley  fifty  miles  wide,  und 
deposited  upon  fosslliferous  limestone  rocks,  which 
have  nothing  in  common  with  tlioso  uf  the  Alps. 
This  is  tho  kind  of  appearance  which  has  so  per- 
plexed Geologists,  and  to  explain  which,  bhull  bo 
one  purpose  of  this  evening's  lecture. 

I  will  lirsf ,  however,  allude  to  ono  other  appear- 
ance which  distinguishes  the  boulder  formation. — 
When  it  rests  upon  hard  rocks — rocUs  which  are 
capable  of  taking  and  retaining  a  polish— rocks 
which  have  not  wasted  away  by  disintegration — 
wo  find,  upon  removing  the  sand,  &c.  the  solid 
rock  below  sometimes  polished  so  as  almost  to 
answer  the  purpose  of  a  looking-glass ;  at  otlier 
times  wo  find  it  scratched  and  ridged  with  long 
parallel  stripes,  perfectly  straight  for  hundreds  of 
yards,  and  sometimes  for  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  oc- 
casionally deviating  from  being  parallel  to  each 
other,  but  still  retaining  the  same  general  direc- 
tion from  north  to  south,  or  sometimes  20  or  25 
degrees  towards  the  east  or  west  of  that  direction. 
This  is  evidently  a  common  characteristic  of  these 
erratics ;  and  any  thcojy  advanced  to  explain 
them  must  comprehend  that  appearance. 

Another  grand  fact  which  is  now  established 
respecting  their  gcegraphical  distribution  is,  that 
they  arc  found  in  the  Northern  Hemisphere,  both  in 
Europe  and  this  country,  extending  from  the  poles, 
and  they  diminish  in  quantity  as  they  approach 
the  warmr  r  and  ctpiatorial  regions,  and  at  length 
disappear  whMi  we  come  near  the  tropics.  We 
find  them  in  Euroj)c  from  tho  north  of  Sweden  and 
Norway  to  tho  coast  of  England,  in  lutitudo  50°. 
We  find  them  hero  still  further  south,  but  the 
Loi;g  Island  deposite  is  one  of  the  last  grand  de- 
positcs,  and  that  on  the  Susquehanna  is,  I  be- 
lieve, the  most  southerly  ;   and  in  travBling  toward 


(Jeorgin,  or  oven  on  tho  .Famra  river  and  the  Pc 
loninc,  you  will  be  struck  with  the  absence  of 
thestt  largo  erratic  fragments  ■  It  is  tho  somo  in 
I(ussii«,  in  traveling  from  north  to  south ;  and  it 
is  only  when  there  is  a  chain  of  mountains  like  the 
Alps,  in  latitude  1(j",  that  any  exception  is  obser- 
ved. Fnim  these  momitains,  ns  fr«ni  tho  Jnrn 
rhuin,  tlio.se  iioulders  seem  to  ladiate  ns  from  a 
O'ntre.  You  may  soo  them  traveled  to  Lombar- 
dy  and  toward  the  Italian  sidi>.  Even  in  tho 
Grampian  mountains  ol  Scotland,  you  may  sco 
them  scattered  over  the  hills  on  every  side  ;  (o 
also  with  tho  small  Cuiuberland  chain.  Thus, 
mountain  chains  seem  to  have  exerted  tho  same 
kind  of  influencu  as  the  poles ;  for  this  general 
theory  is  found  to  be  true,  not  only  of  tho  north 
pole,  but  also  of  the  south.  When  you  pass  from 
thu  southern  part  of  the  United  States  through 
Mexico  to  Peru,  at  Quito  you  find  no  boulders, 
exctfpt  at  the  foot  of  somo  mountain  chain,  where 
we  may  easily  suppose  tho  melted  show  and  other 
causus  sulliciently  obvious,  account  for  their  pre- 
sence. Passing  to  Chili,  it  is  not  till  you  reach 
latitude  41"?  that  you  begin  again  to  meet  tlieeo 
boulders,  and  then  they  continue  to  increase  to 
Terra  del  Fuego,  where  they  are  as  magnificent  in 
their  developement  as  ia  Now  England  or  in  Swe- 
den. 

Another  very  remarkable  appearance  in  regard 
to  tho  stratification  of  this  formation,  is  the  con- 
tortion and  disturbance  of  some  of  the  beds.  In 
parts  of  the  strata  in  Scotland,  for  example,  you 
find  masses  of  tho  unstratified  boulder  with  peb- 
bles below  of  various  kinds,  as  fragments  of  gra- 
nite, gneiss,  (.Sec  ,  in  which  parts  shall  be  twisted 
so  that  a  vortical  section  would  pass  through  the 
same  bed  three  time?.  You  find  alternate  layers, 
first  pebbles  of  a  particular  kind  and  color ;  then 
sand,  the*  loam,  and  then  gravel — all  loose,  but 
so  that  you  may  trace  the  same  bed  for  several 
yards,  one  layer  being  deposited  above  another  in 
a  nearly  horizontal  position ;  and  we  find  them 
semctime?  folded  together — bent  back  upon  them- 
selves. This  appearance  was  of  r  most  perplex 
ingUind,  and  evidently  implied  a  lateral  thrust  by 
which  the  pliant  beds  were  brought  into  the  folded 
position,  though  those  below  had  suffered  no  dis- 
turbaHce. 

In  8.!mo  cases  wo  have  a  mass  of  chalk  resting 
on  another  bed,  in  which  one  has  been  pushed  out 
of  its  original  position,  and  the  gravel  and  sand 
fisldesl  ;iroi!nil  it  lii  other  cases,  as  in  part  of  the 
northern  coast  of  l^ngland,  for  twenty  miles  this 
unstratified  till,  as  it  is  locally  called  in  Scotland, 


i«  eoTar«d  with 

are  curved  strul 

tho  beds  in  a  ci 

and  the  hori/on 

turl)ed ;  so  thut 

which  has  caus 

subsidence,  whi( 

by  Tulcanic  act 

chains,  i&c.     T 

causo  in  that  cii 

disturbed  as  m 

•uon  in  tho  scci 

tlie  contortions 

on  the  Norfolk 

the  same  genci 

As  to  the  as; 

both  here  and  i 

tho  most  mode 

tunity  in  Swed 

the  erratics  an 

teen  feet  in  diu 

thea  came  a 

fnensc  number 

which  the  blui 

muscle  is  now 

is  found  at  Up 

Several  other  i 

Baltic.    The  w 

fourth  part  as 

and  tho  shells 

not  of  dilTeren 

are  yet  of  a  dv 

from  those   th 

found  freshwa 

down  by  river 

modern    is   th 

blocks;  for  no 

when  those  sp 

now    live,   bu 

titosu     peculii 

have    modifie 

I  do  not  sa; 

for  some  of  tl 

tinct,  or  at  an 

region.     In   1 

camo  across 

blago  of  shell 

ago;  and  Dr. 

that   there  w 

from  tho   Ba 

liar  to  the  Si 

chiefly  found 

(he  Pole,  as 

F 


•■'-"■■"-ifiir  '-  —-*^ ■—  —  ---  -.««„.j^. 


51 


f 


U  coTorwd  with  a  layor  of  horizontal  loaia  in  which 

(iro  curved  strulii.     Thi«   foliliiig    nml   Iwiuling  of 

thi)  hinln  ill  a  circio  nometitiioM,  hus  hucii  i-iTfclcd, 

ami  tho  hori/oiitnl  hiyori*  below  aro  not  ni  all  ilin- 

turl>«d ;  »o  tliut  it  raiinol  be  a  motion  from  below 

which  hiw  cftusiil  it — u  (iiibtorranoun  miliouviil  or 

lubuidonci',  which  I  Imvo  bfforo  ^ixplaintid,  cau^i'd 

by  Tolcanic  action,  by  which  wo  explain  mnuntuin 

chaing,  (&<•.     Thin  cannot  I  o  introducoil  hen",  br- 

cauBo  in  ihiit  cimo  tlio  liJwtr  bcdn  would  huvo  bcon 

dirtturbud  an  much  un  tho   higher.     Tliit*  mny  bo 

•eon  in  tho  section  laid  open  in  Urookljn ;  none  of 

tho  contorlioiiH  theie  have  been  ho  violent  aa  some 

on  the  Norfolk  const  of  Kii(,'liui(l  und  Scotlmid ;  but 

tho  Humo  general  difiturbuncc  may  bo  obsorved. 
Aa  to  the  asjo  of  these  boulders,  you  find  them 

both  hero  iitid  in  Kurope,  standing  over  rockd  nil  of 

the  most  modern  tertiary  strata.     1  hail  on  oppor- 
tunity in  Sweden  of  hhowing  how  modern  itomo  of 

iho  erratics  urn,  by  findint;  fragmants  of  gneistij  gix.- 

teen  fuet  in  diameter,  rcHt'ng  upou  a  layer  of  sand  ; 

then  camo  a  bod  of  blue  marl,  containing  an  im- 
monse  number  of  shells  of  the  eatable  musdo,  from  «"<!  to  ^'T'^"'  how  they  are  «o  often  found  con- 
torted and  disturbed  wliilc  the  strata  they  ovcrlw 
are  still  horizontal. 


colder  and  tho  hoiildnrx  hud  been  dr«ppfid  down 
by  icelieig-* ;  for  Capt.  lUYttiCt.i)  frequently  iaw 
immense  rocks  carried  by  icdnigs  and  lot  down 
deposited  » ith  strata  containing  sbelb  the  same  as 
those  I  spoke  of  in  treating  of  the  Niu'^iira  dis- 
trict. Tlina  we  arrive  at  the  conclusion  that  thii 
boulder  formation  i*  one  of  tho  most  modem  do" 
posites  geologictdly  considered — sometime*  ex. 
tremely  lnlld•^rn,  and  in  other  points  ascending  a 
little  hijjher,  jiisl  fo  the  perii»<l  when  the  »amc 
shells  existed,  nearly  all  of  them  belonging  to  \W' 
jn^-  species:  the  newer  I'lincene  period  (i*  I  have 
before  designated  th«  era — when  perliaps  00  out 
of  tho  hundred  shells  found  are  nf  living  specie*. 
Diwu  to  tho  latter  j)art  of  this  newer  riiocono  pc" 
riod  it  appears  that  these  erratics  extend.  We 
have  to  account  then  for  this  formnioii  beinff  of 
guch  vast  thickness  and  unstratitii  d ;  for  rocks 
having  boon  transferred  hundreds  of  miles  over 
lakes  and  valleys  ;  for  their  Iwinj  nearly  non-fo«- 
siliferous;  for  their  being  found  chiefly  in  tho  Arc- 
tic and  Antarctic  regions  or  near  mountain  chains  ; 


which  the  blue  color  of  tho  marl  is  derived.     That 
muMclo  is  now  a  living  species  in  tho  Daltic,  and 
is  found  at  Upsala,  near  the  ancient  University. — 
Several  other  shells  are  also  found  peculiar  to  tho 
Baltic.    The  water  of  the  U.Ulic  contains  only  onc- 
fotirth  part  as  much  salt  as  tho  water  of  the  ocean  ; 
and  tho  shells  found  in  its  brackish  waters,  though 
not  of  dilTercnt  species  from  those  of  tho  ocean, 
are  yet  of  a  dwarllsli  form,  and  of  a  ditferent  shape 
from  thosu    that  live  in  the  sea.     There  are  also 
found  freshwater  shells,  wliich  huvo  been  brought 
down  by  rivers.     We  may  ol)scrve,  then,  how  very 
modern    is   the  transportation  of    some  of  these 
blocks;  for  not  only  do  wo  trace  them  to  the  times 
when  those  species  existed  tho  same  at  those  which 
now     live,    but    when    they    lived    placed    under 
tlioso     peculiar     geographical     relations      which 
have    modified    tho  character    of    tho  waters. — 
I  do  not  say  that  they  are  all  as  modern  as  that, 
for  some  of  them  contain  shells  that  are  partly  ex- 
tinct, or  at  any  rate  which  do  not  live  in  the  same 
region.     In    tho   St.    Lawrence  Capt.   Bayfield 
camo   across   boulders    containing  u  smiiU  assem- 
blage of  shells  which   he   sent  to  me   many  years 
ago;  and  Dr.  Bkck,  a  Danish  Geolo/^ist,  observed 
that   there  were   fauna    more   ancient  than  those 
from  tho    Baltic,  which  I  received   at  tho  same 
time.     Thsre  wits  Ji  small  number  of  species  'lecu- 
liar  to  tho  Southern  regions,  and  the  same  as  are 
chiefly  found  in  Greenland  and  other  districts  near 
the  Pole,   as    if  tho   country  had   formerly  boon 


In  tho  hope  to  explain  tho  greater  part  of  thes* 

pheaomena,  I  propose  first  to  treat  of  Glaeier», 

and  then  of  Icebergs.     You  arc  aware  that  in  lofty 

mountains,  especially  in  the  hisli   latitudes,  the 

snow  never  disappears  during  the  whole  year.— 

There  is  constantly  fulling  snow  which  the  summer 

heat  is  never  sufReicnttomelt;  and  in  Switzerland 

where  the  Alps  are  three  miles  i-i  lii^'lit  above  the 

level  of  tho   sea,  although  in  latitude  -Ki",   their 

peaks  arc  covered  with  perpetual  snow;    which 

comes  down  and  fills  tho  valley  for  ten  or  fifteen 

miles:    then  thi-;  ice  bi'comes  consolidated,  being 

melted  during  the  day  and  frozen  in  the  night — so 

that  it  is  puslieddown  towards  the  valley  to  a  point 

3000  feet  above  the  level,  where  the  heal  becomog 

so  great  as  to  arrest  its  progress,  and  it  melts, 

and  gives  rise  oftentimes  to  a  considerable  stream 

of  water.     The  cause  of  tho  motion  of  these  gla- 

ciurs  has  been  a  matter  of  considerable  controversy. 

Gravity  is  admitted  on  all  hands  to  be  one  consid- 

erablo  cause.     It  is  suggested  by  Sau.ssurk,  and 

by  the  earlier  writers  is  believed  to  be  the  principal 

cause;  but  this  is  denied  by  M.    Aoassiz  in  tha 

history   of    his    lato    exploration  of  the  Alps.— 

That  this  snow,  if  it  goes  on  accuumlating  upon 

the  mountains  which  are  so  steep,  will  by  its  own 

gravity  fall  down,  is  unquestionable.     You  see  this 

to  bo  tho  case  in  avalanches,  as  tliey  called— sliding 

own  of  lorge  masses  of  snow   in  warm  weather, 


I 

1 

t 

• 

)- 
d 

a 

■'t 

'0 


52 


which  continues  until  the  valley  is  choked  by  this 
dosccnding  mass,  which  cnishes  the  trees  und  veg- 
etation that  lie  in  its  path.  These  become  of  such 
enormous  n'ue  that  they  are  gometimes  100  or  200 
feet  thick,  and  in  puriicular  places  500  or  COO, 
though  it  is  supposed  now  that  1*20  or  130  1  ctex- 
orossea  their  average  depth.  In  Switzerland, 
where  the  glaciers  of  the  Arve,  tho  Luuter  Arve, 
and  tho  Shrecken  mtet,  the  former  being  merged 
in  tho  other;  along  the  middle  is  a  remarkable  ridge 
of  rocks — many  (jf  them  angular  and  some  rounded. 
Now  tho  lirst  (juestion  is,  how  "amc  these  blocks 
in  the  middle  of  the  valley  where  it  is  two  or  three 
miles  wide.  The  glaciers  descend  from  the  region 
of  perpetual  snow  ts  a  bight  of,  say  8000  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  sea.  How  cumc  all  these  rocks  in 
the  middle?  You  might  imagine  that  from  tho 
steep  sides  there  would  be  trafjnients  detached. — 
Avalanches  might  cause  this,  or  frost  penetrating 
tlio  rents  and  f-eezh.g  the  water,  would  oc- 
casionally force  them  out  and  cause  the  rocks  to 
descend.  Sometimes  lightning  strikes  tho  Alpine 
peaks,  and  shivers  olf  large  mai>ses  of  rocks  which 
descend.  So  that  we  should  not  be  puzzled  to  find 
along  the  base  of  lofty  cliffs  tv.o,  three  or  four  thou- 
sand feet  high,  these  fragments  of  rock.  This 
would  bo  perfectly  intelligible.  But  hou-  should 
they  get  into  the  middlu  of  thti  valky,  and  why 
are  there  five  distinct  parallel  ridges  of  these 
stones  ?  Saussork  was  at  fn-st  completely  ballled 
in  accounting  for  this.  But  having  once  found 
tho  explanation,  it  was  so  easy  that  it  became  sur- 
prising how  it  could  have  been  missed. 

Prof.  Agassiz  found  in  exploring  the  higher 
regions  that  this  w-as  a  ncccsnary  consequence  of 
the  junction  of  the  two  glaciers.  It  is  easy  to  see 
why  these  lateral  morainea,  as  they  are  called, 
should  exist — the  rocky  fragments  being  deposited 
along  these  glaciers  by  their  rubbing  against  the 
sides  of  tho  mountains.  But  suppose  one  of  these 
immense  masses  of  ice  to  be  descending  the  valley 
of  the  Arve  ;  and  here  conies  u  tributary  to  join  it 
from  tho  Lauter  Arve — the  rocks  instead  of  being 
deposited  in  lateral  moraines  by  rubbing  against 
the  mountain  sides  will  be  brought  into  the  mid- 
dle of  these  two  united  frozen  rivers,  thus  forming 
Q  central  or  medial  moraine.  Now  as  the  glacier 
moves  along,  (and  in  a  hot  day  you  may  set3  the 
motion  daily — although  an  inch,  or  perhaps  half  an 
inch  an  hour  would  be  a  rapid  movement,) — you 
may  see  sometimes  fragments  falling  down — rub- 
bing one  against  the  other,  and  great  rents  often 
traverse  the  ice  with  a  noise  like  thunder.  By  this 
nibbing  against  the  sides  of  the  mountain  the  rocks 


become  rounded.  Many  of  iho  fragments  fall 
through  the  fissures  to  the  bottom,  and  some  are 
caught  in  the  middle — the  fissure  penetrating  only 
twenty  or  thirty  feet.  Sometimes,  however,  thny 
fall  to  the  bottom,  and  then  the  ice  resting  upon 
them  grinds  them  along  the  rock,  which  Ixicomes 
p(dished — those  ar,  least  capable  of  receiving  a  pol- 
ish— and  scratched  und  furrowed  as  we  afterw-ard 
find  it.  All  this  may  bo  seen  by  the  occasional 
melting  back  of  tho  i,dacier.  So  at  the  termination 
of  the  glacier  it  preseiits  a  beautiful  green  arched 
cavern,  out  of  w  liich  a  tonenl  of  water  rushes  down 
the  valley.  Frequently  the  glacier  melts  back  from 
tho  extremity,  and  thus  gives  an  op[)ortunity  to  seo 
what  has  taken  pkice  under  it,  and  you  will  find  tho 
battom  oftentimes  most  beautifully  polished.  In 
some  of  the  boulders  you  will  find  quartz  pebbles, 
and  these  have  scratched  and  made  furrows  upon 
tho  limestone  and  other  rock  along  which  they 
have  moved — just  ns  a  diamond  scratches  glass. — 
In  other  places  you  will  find  still  deeper  furrows 
xearly  parallel  to  each  other.  You  will  also  sec — 
as  I  have  had  occasion  to  refer  to  the  prodigious 
power  of  these  ice  masses — rocks  that  have  been 
ground  down  to  tho  finest impalpablepowder;  and 
nothing  can  exceed  the  fineness  of  this  mud  whicFi 
is  formed  from  the  powder  thus  produced  by  these 
masses  of  ice  one  or  two  hundred  feet  thick,  equal 
in  weight  to  five  and  twenty  or  even  fifty  feet  of 
solid  rock. 

The  downward  motion  of  tho  glaciers  is  partly 
due  to  gravity.  But  Prof.  Agassiz  says  that  still 
more  is  due  to  the  alternate  melting  and  freezing 
of  the  water.  The  ice  is  in  fact  a  great  spongo 
and  not  only  may  you  see  water  in  the  day  time 
held  up  in  the  clefts — as  many  of  you  who  have 
traveled  in  Switzerland  can  testify — but  the  whole 
surface  is  a  spongy  mass  which  imbibes  the  water 
during  the  day,  which  every  night  is  frozen  by  tho 
same  frosts,  and  '.hus  occurs  a  universal  dilatation 
of  the  whole  mass ;  the  water  in  all  the  rents  free- 
zing causes  an  expansion,  and  as  this  cannot  push 
aside  the  mountains  on  the  flanks,  the  only  vent 
for  the  force  is  downward— in  which  direction  it 
has  the  edect  to  force  the  huge  mass  down  at  the 
rate  of  one,  two,  tl.reo  or  four  inches  an  hour,  ac- 
cording to  the  heat  of  the  smnnier  aiid  the  amount 
of  alternate  melting  and  freezing  that  goes  on,  and 
also  according  to  the  farther  distance  which  the 
glaciers  have  reached.  I  may  mention  that  every 
one  of  the  moraines  between  the  central  one  and 
the  sides  is  piroduced  just  like  the  large  one — by 
tiie  junction  of  the  Iribuluries  whicli  como  one  af- 
cr  another  down  for  many  miles.     Thus  the  dif- 


53 

1.    c  V,      l^pn    some  time  a^o.     There  are  fonao  remarkable  ob 
fent  moraines  maybe  traced-onc  to  the  SchrrcKc^  ..^n.crning  it,  which  show  the  rate  of 

ana  ethers  to  various  tributar.eB  -^-^J;^'      'S;  ;.  ^„,„„  ;„  a.c.e  glaciers.     It  vasbuilt  in  1«27.  on 

„p.     Tho«e  at  the  si.lcs  move  fast,  r  ban   he  c  n^  ^^^^^^     ^,,j^^^  ^^^^^^.^^^^^^  ^^   ^^^^^ 

,1  „,,._,...a..c  the  reflection   ot  U.e  h  aOu^^  ^  J- ^             ^^^^  .  ^  ^^^,,^  ,^^  ^,^^,,,  ,,^^  ^,„ 

,,0  bound..,-   ro.k.  i.  in  acbbuon    o     he   d .    c  a.             J^^  ^^^^^      ^^ .^^_^^_^  ^^.  ^^^  ^^^^^^^^.^^  ^.^_ 
,,eat    of  .he    Sun,  causing   the  .ce    o  ^l^^^VZ^^,    '  ^^s^..^ ,  2100  i^.U  He  .ent  again  four 

Ca.ter:  and  tlu-.  the  ice  is  drawn    from  ^^^^^^  "J^,^  ,^f,,,/,,a  .-...hI  a.at  it  had  gone  down  at 

,,,  ,,  „„   side,  ana  tl,e   moran.e.    -com    n.  e  -^.r           ^^^^^                    ^^^   ^^^^^^^^  ^^  ^^^^^ 

,.,a  more  scattered.  At  la.t  we  '^^';:^ ^  V^^  ,,,  ^,,  a.irieen  yoor.,  it  was  found  that  u 
,.eat  lateral  moraine  ^^^  ^^'^ ':;''^^^;\t^l^...  down  .t  the  rate  of  eight  inches  in 
Ld  when  we  behold  the  ^^^  "  ;;•  ^^  ^^  .  '^^.(^^  hour.  In  .he  first  part  of  the  di. 
„.i„ation  we  .hall  f'"'! '^^^ '"''^^";.^? l.tJ','^  eight,   and  in  the   second  sixteen; 

ments   at  all.     There  wa.  some  ^ifhc ulty  m  a  ^^^^  ^^^^.^  ,^  ._^  ^^^^  ^^^^^^^     I„ 

countingi^rthi.  bccau.e.twassupp^     at  a.^^  ^^^^^  ^^^^^^^^ 

fragments  had   >^-"  ^^'^V    IbeauUfullv  free  again,  a,  ProlV.sor  Ag..s..  remarked,  that    bo 

,vby    should  the   extremuy  be  so    --^^-^          1  =^^;„„  ,,,3   ,uiefiy  owing   to   dllatation-to  tin. 

from  thorn  ?     The  answer  is  .Ins  .    that   wh  ^^^^^^^^^  ^^^^.^^  ^^^^  ^^^^^^.^^      r^^.^  .^  ,,,,^,„ly 

block  falls  into  a  fissure  it  works  its  way  up     n  ^                      ,,,,  ;„  favor  of  that  theory,  that  .t 

b,  .ising  -X;;:tr;:::^"a  :^:is:;he  i;chieny  durmg  this  eong^.ion  and  melting  that 

glacier  goes  dosvn,  it  contm  mi  motion  is  observed, 

s'urface-the   upper  surface   melung  away     and  the^^^^^^   ^^^^  ^^^^    ^^^^.^^^^    ^^.^^^^   ^^^,  ^^ 

the   block   which  had  dropped  down  ^o  *  ^^^^  ^^^^  ,,,,  .jvance  than  at  other.,  as  between  the 

distance  must  continually  get  "^,^'^<^'^;^^°  ^^;„^^^^^^  and  again  m  the 
There  too  this  block  l-'-^y]';  jj    ^  1,,  Leventeenth  and  eighteenth  a  general  motion  for- 

rays  of  the   Sun,  and    you  see  the  mass  belo^  ^^^  retrocession  and 

m  Ited.     If  the  pebble  bo  small  it  soon   becomes  wa  d      cu             ..^.  J^^^^^^^^^.^^,  ^,,„„mcna 

beated  through,  and  thus  forms  a  pool  or  hollo..  d     n  0                     ^^  ^^_^^^^^     ^^^^^^  ^^^^^^  . 

Thus  if  the  rock  be  small,  we  s  a  U.v.  a  hollo.  ,  ho^^  ^^^  ^^  J^^^  ^^^^^^          ^^.^,,^^^^  ^^.,,,  „,,, 

if  large,  the  opposite-or  the   rock  w  ^^^^^^^     ^^^^^^  .^  ^^^  ^^^.,^„^,. 

ed  up  on  a  pedestal.     The  wind  also  is  one  cau  ^^^  ^^^_^_ ^  ^^^^.^^^  ^^^^   ^^^^  ^^^^^  j^^.^,^^^  ^^  ^b, 

of  evaporation.     The   ice  --;«^ J^"^.  \;^4'_     Alps  in  Switzerland,  we  have  glaciers  descondmg 
pbor,  without  passing  through  the  Iquu   f  im.  1  ^^^  ^^^  _  ^^^  ^^  ^^^^^  ^^^^^  ^^^^^  ^^^^  ,^^,,„j      ,1 

The  general  waste  of  superficial  ice  tends  to  bring     ^^^^  ^^^^  ^^  ^^^^  ^^^  ^^^^^^^  ^^^^  ^^.^  ^,,„^  ^,,1,0     ^ 
up  die  fallen  mas.  toward  the  surface.  ^^^^^^  ^^^  ^^^^^  ^000  f,,,  bigh-balf  the  bight 

^  '- .,»   ^.«.  difficulty  in     ^^^^^^^,p^i„ti.,,^nie  latitude.     The  reason  of 

this  singular  phenomenon  is  that  to  which  I  have 

1    __*_!,.     !««.-,     ni-ifonctn  in 


f 


\  have  said  that  there  was  great  difficulty  in 

,oei..  bow  such  large  fragments  could  be  so  per- 

ecUy  rounded.     Sometimes  we  have  masses  per- 


Boeiig  now  bui...  ."-b"  -  °  ,„„.  npr-    this  singular  p"»--i»""^""" 

fecUy  rounded.     Sometimes  we  ^'^ve  rna^se    per  __^^^^  ^^^  ^^^^^,  ^eat  is  less  intense  .n 

.eet/y  angular-twenty  f^t  m  -    -c  to      and     ^^^  ^^^^_  In  Europe  we  have  to  go  to   atitude  6,0 


twelve  or  fifteen  in  the  other.  There  is  one  w  11 
llwn  to  travelers,  in  the  central  moraine  of  the 
glacier  of  the  Arve.  It  was  here  that  a  hut  was 
built  in  which  a  family  lived  in  the  summer.     The 


the  Alps.  In  Europe  we  have  to  go  to  latitude  67 
before  we  find  a  single  glacier  reaching  the  sea  - 
But  in  the  Southrn  Hemisphere,  in  latitude  4G  - 
in  Chili-we  find  this  occurring  twenty-one  degree. 


built  in  which  a  family  lived  in  the  summer.     The  ^^^^  .  ^^  ^^^^^  ^^^^,^^  ,^  ^       ,„      tual 

rocks  arc  rounded  here,  as  is^  said  by  Bornc  r,o   by         ^^^^^^_^^  ^^  .^^^^^^_^^  .^  ^  ^.^.^^.^^  ^^.^^^^^  ^^  ^,,„ 


Ks  are  rouinn.<j  n^. -.  —  ,        n 

tbo  action  of  the  ice,  bnt  of  the  river  that  fiows 
be.ieath  the  ice.  But  Professor  Agass.z  says 
th,;:  as  a  proof  that  it  is  the  ice,  and  not  the  river, 

to  which  the  rounding  of  the  rocks  is  attnoutable 
you  may  go  up  to  points  above  where  any  .tream 

^  ■'...,  _..:n    C,„A    fVint   thft  1110- 


veneration  of  icebergs  in  a  region  which  is  almost 
the  limit  to  which  the  floating  icebergs  reach. 
That  alternate  period  of  advance  and  retrocession 
among  the  Swiss  glaciers  is  one  of  the  most  re 
remarkable   facts,  and  explains   many   geological 


you  may  go  up  to  pou.t, ■■-  -        -  ,    ,  !„  observing  the  terminal  moraine. 

Lmmences,  and  still  you   will  fi«d  that  ^^^ '"^^^^  ^^^^^^^^  ..e^often  find  a  huge  mas. 

tion  of  the  ice  above  has  rounded  masses  ot  al       J  ^'^^  end  of  one  summer.     Then  when  tko 
sizes.      This    is  found  s«  far  above  __the  bne^of    left  at_ the  end^^  ^^^^  _^  ^^^^^^^ 


sized.  xuin      '"     .w.™    --.     --  J  I 

perpetual  snow  that  it  cannot  bo  attributed  to  the 
fu-tion  of  running  Nyater. 


glacier  advances  again  it  pushe.  forward  the  mo- 
raine of  the  last  year  into  that  of  the  year  before, 
"*  ....        1  -_   ,r,i;i  wo  have 


'  raine  ot  iiio  mtsi  j<-">  --  - 

tion  of  running  Nyater.  ,     ^  j  j   guj  eo  ou  until  we  Have 

I  mentioned  a  hut,  built  by  Professor  Hu«.,  I  and  that  into  the  third. 


^^»»^'----^'ffl 


54 


four  er  five  together,  forming  a  hugo  mountriin. — 
You  may  seo  many  of  these  ancisnt  moraines  cov- 
ered with  bousos,  and  lofty  trees,  and  various  kinds 
i>rherbap';  and  as  I  witnessed  in  1030,  whiMi  tho 
gla<.-.ier  wa^  advan'-ing,  if  it  approach  thi^  ancient 
moraine  it  di'stmys  the  forests  upon  it,  forcin,^  in 
de  walb  of  tho  hoUiioa  and  crusliing  them  by  a 
H  ,sb)W  and  almrsl  impercoptible,  but,  >it  ibc  aamo 
time  irresistibU^  power;  and  after  ircadiBg  down 
•,hr:,o  lofty  trees  for  a  serli-s  of  year?,  it  will  u^nin 
retreat;  and  then  the  wood  wid  grow  asaiii,  the 
inhabitants  ngiin  buihl  their  hou.scs,  and  forgot  the 
disaster  which  once  rendered  tliem  desolate.  So 
that  the  trees  show  by  tlicir  ago  how  it  has  been 
»inco  the  ice  visited  that  part  ef  the  conntry. 

These  phenomena  have  been  well  described  by 
M.  Chaiu'ENTier,  who  remarked  that  we  al- 
ways hare  an  uoFtratified  mass  of  large  boul- 
ders in  the  same  district,  the  angular  and  rounded 
being  mingled  together.  This  shows  that  they 
cannot  be  attributed  to  any  action  of  water,  for 
water  exerts  an  assorting  power  carrying  the  finer 
materials  farther  than  the  coarser,  and  would  carry 
tho  small  stones  to  farther  points  than  the  large 
ones.  Each  different  size  would,  supposing  the 
whole  to  be  attributed  to  the  action  of  water,  be 


40°  in  Chili.  Scorksby  tells  us  that  he  met  in 
lat.  69°  an  iceborgjn  the  Atlantic  with  100,000  tons 
of  rock  upon  it.  But  in  1839  there  was  met  in 
the  South  Atlantic  an  iceberg  1,300  miles  from  any 
known  land,  from  which  projected  a  block  twelve 
feet  thick:  how  much  rock  was  buriod  beneath 
tho  surface  wa?i  not  knew  n.  I  do  not  say  that  thi3 
was  1,300  miles  from  any  land — but  only  from  any 
known  land.  Now  as  this  was  floating  at  a  con- 
siderable rati!  from  South  t»  North— as  it  melted 
tlie  rock  wnuld  fall  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  and  if 
the  'jcd  should  be  raised  pomo  day,  wo  should 
have  boulders  at  an  immense  distance  from  their 
starting  point.  The  shores  of  the  Antarctic  re- 
gions are  thus  covered  with  coast  ice  a  mile  or 
two  in  thickness — stranded  ice  containing  great 
quantities  of  rocks.  Thus  as  the  glaciers  descend 
to  the  sea,  they  float  off,  the  rocks  fall  to  the  bot- 
tom, and  the  floor  of  the  ocean  is  thus  strewed 
over  with  them,  and  if  the  ice  melt  in  still  water 
tho  formation  would  be  unstratified,  because  all 
the  rocks  fall  perpendicularly  through  the  water. 
But  if  there  were  a  current,  then  an  assorting 
power  would  be  exercised,  and  we  should  have 
regular  strata. 

I  now  come  to  a  remarkable  feature  to  which  I 


them  all  indifferently  to  the  same  place,  and  we 
should  find  them  unstratified — a  promiscuous,  con- 
fused mass,  and  that  is  the  character  of  all  the 
moraine!!.  Now  we  are  not  to  jump  to  the  con- 
clusien  that  rdl  the  boulders  of  Long'Island  are 
attributable  to  glaciers.  I  believe  that  they  are 
not,  but  still  to  tlio  action  of  ice.  The  pebbles 
fsund  at  North  Haven  and  along  the  Connecticut 
valley,  in  the  boulder  formation  are  rounded  on 
three  sides  but  flat  on  the  other — resting  on  pol- 
ished rock  ;  and  all  the  furrows  are  parallel  over 
a  large  exteiit  of  counti-y.  This  parallelism  does 
not  bespeak  the  action  of  water;  for  in  that  case 
there  would  be  none  of  the  scooping  out  that  we 
sec  in  tho  action  of  gl;n;i,-,rs;  tin;  motion  would 
not  be  always  in  the  same  direction;  but  if  the 
fragment  of  a  lock  becomes  frozen  in,  it  is  kept  in 
one  position,  and  wo  should  have  therefore  straight 
parallel  grooves. 

But  not  to  <Uv(;ll  longer  on  the  action  of  mere 
glaciers,  let  us  pass  to  llic  consideration  of  ice- 
b4irg8.  We  know  that  icebergs  carry  fragments  of 
ro<-.k  in  the  same  way  as  glaciers ;  that  is,  frag- 
ments of  rock  rest  on  glacitrs  when  they  come  to 
the  sea,  and  are  then  conveyed  away  by  the  float" 
ing  iceberg,  as  well  as  by  tho  moving  glacier  on 
land.     This   has  been  observed  even  in  latitude 


arranged  in  different  layers.     But  :ce  would  carry  j  »""«'  *""J«'  ^^  I  «P"^°  "f  it  at  tho  beginning  of 

my  lecture,  but  of  which  I  can  only  speak  briefly. 
I  mean  the  appearance  of  Alpine  rocks  on  tho 
peaks  of  the  Jura.  The  western  valley  is  com- 
posed of  talcose  granite  and  gneiss.  Then  going 
farther  East  we  come  to  the  Bcnicso  Alpj,  where 
the  mountains  arc  composed  of  crystaline  lime- 
stone, gneiss  and  other  rocks,  frequently  of  highly 
crystaline  marble,  fragments  of  gneiss,  &c.  Next 
aro  the  Al^.o  of  the  smaller  cantons,  Glaiis, 
Schwytz,  Uri,  Zug,  &ic.  Now  the  phenomenon 
alluded  to  is  this.  Wo  have  tho  groat  valley  of 
Switzerland  between  tbe  Jura  and  the  Alps.  The 
Alps  are  from  10,0(')0  to  15,000  feet  high,  and  the 
Jura  only  one-third  as  high.  Nmv  we  ha^o  tho 
same  blocivs  in  the  plain  below,  in  Lake  Geneva 
and  others,  perched  upon  the  Jura  Mountains,  at 
all  bights  and  ofall  sizes — one  in  particidiir,  cele- 
brated under  tho  name  of  Pierre  a  Bot,  near 
Neufchatel,  no  less  than  forty  feet  in  diameter, 
composed  of  gneiss  from  the  Alps.  The  whole 
chain  of  the  Jura  is  composed  of  fossiliferous 
limestone,  entirely  different  from  the  Alpine  rocks  ; 
so  that  we  have  no  other  rnscnt  tlian  to  suppose 
that  tnesc  rocks  must  have  originated  in  tho  Alps. 
All  agree  that  those  on  thecjntral  part  of  tho  Jura 
camo  from  tho  Ikrncso  Ovorland  ;  then,  again, 
the  block  of  slate  of  the  Glaris  regi»n  sent  over  its 


I 

i 


55 


i 


erratics  to  tho  Eastern  Jura,  near  BMle,&nd  those 
on  the  Western  Jura  have  como  from  the  region 
of  Mont  Blanc  and  tho  Val&is. 

Saussurk,  Van  Buch  and  other  writers   sup- 
posed that  those  phenomera    were   produced   by 
some  gra!id  ru^h  of  waters  in  consequence  of  tho 
rise  of  tho  Alps  from  the  ocean ;  a   most   violent 
hypothesis  contrary  to  facts    now   known.     If  wo 
suppose  that  this  wis    the    ca\ise  of  those    rocks 
being  carried  across    this    great    valley,  how  is  it 
that  they  did  not  all  fall  down    into  the  valley? — 
How  is  it  possible  that    they   should    be   whirled 
dometimes  for  several   thousand  feet  ?     This   has 
never   been  explained  to  the   satisfaction  of  any 
on? ;  though  to  be  sure  this  is  rather   more  satis- 
factory tlian  no  hypothesis.  But  the  remarkable  fact 
is  that  wo  have  on  parts  of  the  Jura  fragments  »f 
rock  such  as  \\  c  must  suppose  glaciers  must  have 
carried  straight  across  tho  valley  fifty  miles  wide ; 
so  that  the  western  stream  seems  to  have  followed 
the  course  of  the  Rhone,  tho   Central  that  of  the 
Arve  and  the   eastern  that  of  the   Reuss  and   the 
Limmat.     But  to  suppose  all  this  is  in  defianca  of 
all  analogy  of  the  motion  of  glaciers;  for  we  must 
r.^member  that  they  could  have  an  inclination  from 
on<j  bank  to  the    other  of  only    two   degrees ;  so 
that  W6  should  have   them   moving  along  a  dead 
flat,  which  is  contrary  to  all  the    laws  of  glaciers, 
that  thoy  should  walk   across  this  level  and  lodge 
these  blocks  upon  tho  Jura  peaks.    I  should  rath- 
er believe  this  however  than   that  they  arc  owing 
to  a  diluvial  rush,    which    is  "^utterly   inconsistent 
with  all  the  laws  of  tho  transportation  of  matter. 
There  is  another  i^pothesis  suggested  by  tho 
occurrence   of  glaciers  in  Chili  in  the  same  lati- 
tude as  the  Swiss  Alps.     We  may   suppose   from 
geological  changes,  known  to  be  going  on   in  the 
upheaval  of  the  land,   &c.,  that  the    Alps  were 
less  lofty  than  they  now  are, during  the  boulder  for- 
mation, and  tho   Jura  also.     The  sea   may   then 
have  covered  the  bottom  of  that  deep  valley  and 
the  Alps — at  one  half  their  present  hight — would 
have  stood  as    high  as  tho  Chilian    Andes.     Sup- 
pose they  sent  down  glaciers  to  the   sea,  as  we 
know    they    do    in    South     'tmcrica,  where   Sir 
Georgk  Ayues    has    seen  them    with    blocks  of 
syenite  and  granite.     These  might  be  stranded  in 
the  great  valley,  which,  in  that  case,  would  repre- 
sent the  channel  that  new  separates  the  island  of 
Chilmi  from  the  main  land.     The  island  of  Chiloe 
is  about    100  milo'j  long,   and  may  well  represent 
tlie  Jura  Chain.     Tho  Andes  represent  the  Alps, 
fmtf  the  channel  tho  intervening  valley.     The  .\lps 
ut  half  their  presonl  hight,  would  be  sulTicicat  to 
give  rise  to  glaciers,  which,    descending  to  the 


sea,  would  become  icebergs  and  float  blocks  aeresi 
tho  channel.  In  point  ot  fact  there  are  fo«nd  oa 
the  island  of  Chiloa  blocks  of  syenite  in  one  part 
and  of  granite  in  another,  which  might  have  been 
carried  from  different  points  of  the  sides  opposite- 
Now  if  an  i»i)hcaval  woro  to  take  place  en  tho 
Chili  Coast,  which  should  lift  up  tho  Andes — dry 
up  tho  intervening  channel — and  lift  up  Chiloe  so 
that  it  would  appear  to  be  a  chain  of  mountains 
we  should  have  the  same  puzzling  appearance  to 
future  geologists.  It  would  be  wondered  how 
these  blocks  of  granite  and  syenite  could  have 
crossed  the  valley  from  the  Andes  and  perch  d 
themselves  on  the  Chilian  Mountains.  This  hy- 
pothesis is  infinitely  more  satisfactory  than  the  one 
which  attributes  tho  phenomena  to  the  extension 
of  glaciers  from  tho  Alps  to  the  Jura,  or  te  the 
diluvial  rush  of  Saussure.  There  have  beenfound 
also  moraines  on  the  Jura  which  have  polished 
and  scratched  the  surface — implying  that  formerly 
there  were  glaciers  hero  also.  This  may  have 
happened  when  the  climate  more  resembled  that 
of  Chili. 

I  will  now  state  one  more  fact  of  some  interest 
hsre.  I  observe  tliat  Mr.  Mather,  the  State  Ge- 
ologist, to  whom  was  committed  tho  investigation 
of  this  part  of  the  country,  says  that  on  tho  East- 
ern extremity  of  Long  Island  are  blocks  that  have 
come  from  the  neighborhood  of  the  Palisades  or 
from  dift'erent  parts  of  the  Highlands.  Traveling 
farther  on  he  saw  another  group  which  came  from 
the  Connecticut  region  opposite  ;  then  to  trap,  por- 
phoi7  and  other  rocks  from  New  Haven.  Still 
farther  were  Rhode  Island  rocks  and  se  in  differ- 
ent parts  were  groups  correspondiHg  with  strata 
opposite.  In  these  cases  we  have  not  to  call  in 
the  action  of  glaciers  nor  of  icebergs  to  explain 
this.  It  may  have  been  caused  by  the  action  of 
coast  ice.  Ice  might  float  thither  carrying  these 
blocks  and  being  stranded  lodge  its  load ;  then  tbo 
next  year  might  come  a  little  more.  Capt.  Bat- 
field  after  fixing  the  position  of  one  block  found 
li  carried  away  several  yards.  The  experience  of 
Dease  and  Simpson  shows  the  immense  power 
of  these  icebergs.  The  Utica,  too,  which  has  just 
arrived  talks  of  icebergs  in  this  latitude,  400  feet 
high  above  the  water  and  as  there  are  eight  cubic 
feet  below  for  one  above  tho  surface,  we  may  judge 
of  the  enormous  sizo  of  these  icebergs  which  were 
several  miles  in  circumference.  1  hey  grate  aleng 
the  bottom  of  the  ocean,  ploughing  up  mud  and 
sand,  witliaforce  sufliciont  easily  to  move  a  building 
like  this,  or  even  the  whole  city  of  New-York  be- 
fore them:  This  is  the  kind  of  action  that  pro- 
duced tho»o  contortions  of  which  I^faave  speken. 


-.^j^ti^li^  ^^:-\p^-jyj-^^,   ^ 


56 


tb«  tq.  «rf  *  «nd-bftnk  in  the  bottom  of  th^  nea 
hat  been  oxponcd  to  •  violent  thruM  of  thin  kind 
and  while  the  strata  below  remained  horizontal, 
those  above  would  bfl  forced  back  and  folded  (.ver 
upon  thcmBclvos. 

I  will  now  leave  this  subject  half-told,  m  I  have 
been  obliged  to  leave  so  many  other»  (.f  equal  im- 
portance;  and  atiUmorc  at  which  I  have  not  been 
fible  oven  to  glance.  In  concluding  I  may  take 
tlu«  opportunity— a«  this  i»  the  luHt  lecture  I  shall 
have  the  pleasure  of  delivoringin  the  United  States 
before  my  returu  to  Europe,  being  about  t«  resume 


my  geological  tour  and  to  visit  various  parts  of  thfl 
West  and  of  Canada— not  only  of  thanking  you  for 
the  great  attention  you  havobeen  so  kind  as  to  show 
me  but  also  to  acknowledge  the  welcome  which 
hns  aitcndod  me  throughout  my  tour  from  Lake 
F.rii-  t..  the  Savannah  river;  and  which  has  mado 
inc  in  this  country  feel  us  much  at  home  as  though 
I  were  in  England ;  and  I  assure  you  that  I 
shall  always  look  back  to  the  time  spent  hera 
with  a  home-feeling,  which  will  always  make 
it  difticuli  for  me  le  regard  Auwrica  a«  a  foreign 
laud. 


itiliii'SiiijIlliqjP 


'man 


$^33^ 


ms^s^ 


rWof  thfl 
g  you  for 
to  show 
10  which 
im  Lake 
ii«  niado 
I?  though 
u  Umt  I 
cnt  hero 
yg  make 
1   foroisu 


